Norway put on high terror alert after attack on LGBTI club

MADRID, 25 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Norwegian Police Security Service, the PST, has declared the highest terrorist alert this Saturday after the attack on an LGBTI club this morning in the country's capital, Oslo, which has resulted in two deaths and 21 injuries.

The attack, whose alleged perpetrator has been arrested, is being investigated as a terrorist attack.

As a result of the event, the PST has decided to activate alert five, the "exceptionally high" level of terrorist threat, according to the head of the organization, Roger Berg, in statements collected by the public network NRK.

"There has been a terrorist attack, and there is an unresolved terrorist situation. Therefore, the level has been raised," Berg said.

Shortly after the incident, the police arrested a 42-year-old Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, known to the authorities, who has already been charged with murder, attempted murder and terrorist attack.

The individual is from the Kurdish part of Iran and came with his family to Norway as a refugee as a child. He has Norwegian nationality and resides in Oslo. He had previously been convicted of misdemeanors, including 120 days in jail for drugs, in 2016.

Three years later, however, the man was arrested for attempted murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawful possession of a knife in a public place. He was never convicted of these charges.

Seven patients were admitted to Ulleval, while another victim has been transferred to Akershus University Hospital (Ahus), northwest of Oslo, twenty kilometers from the capital. In addition, another eleven people have been taken to other emergency health centers.

The cocktail bar, called the London Pub, is one of the three crime scenes. The wounded are scattered around a fast-food restaurant and the Herr Nilsen jazz club, all on Rosenkrantz Street in central Oslo.