Blast at US Embassy in Oslo may have terror motive, Norway police say

Other motives also being investigated, police say, as they search for one or several perpetrators.Published On 8 Mar 2026Police in Norway say an explosion at the United States embassy in the capital, Oslo, overnight that caused no injuries and minor material damage may have been an act of terror, but other motives are also being investigated.“It’s natural to see this in the context of the current security ⁠situation and that this could be an attack deliberately targeting the US embassy,” Frode Larsen, head of the Oslo police investigation unit, told a news conference on Sunday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Why are Iranian leaders sending mixed messages on Gulf attacks?list 2 of 4US embassy in Baghdad attacked as US-Israel war on Iran escalateslist 3 of 4Has Donald Trump failed to sell the Iran war to the world?list 4 of 4Why international law is still the world’s best defenceend of list“One of our hypotheses is that this is terrorism, but we are also exploring other options,” Larsen later told public broadcaster NRK. “But we are not completely stuck on that. We have to be open to the possibility that there may be other causes behind what has happened.”People on the scene said the street was blanketed in thick smoke following the blast.Grete Lien Metlid, left, head of the police’s Joint Unit for Operational Service, and Frode Larsen, head of the Joint Unit for Investigation and Intelligence, talk to reporters about the blast at the US Embassy in Oslo [AFP]The blast at the embassy compound in western Oslo occurred at 1am local time (00:00 GMT), sending thick smoke into the street by the entrance of the consular section, witnesses said.No suspects have been identified, but police are searching for one or several perpetrators ‌and are cooperating closely with the embassy, Larsen said.Norway’s government was in contact with ⁠officials at the embassy to convey that this ⁠was “an unacceptable act that we take very seriously”, Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement.