The US embassy in Oslo has been hit by an explosion.
No one was injured in the blast in the early hours of Sunday, which caused only “minor material damage”.
Oslo police said it might have been an act of terror, but stressed they were also investigating other motives.
Police did not provide details about what caused the blast, which occurred around 1am local time (midnight GMT) at the entrance to the embassy’s consular section, saying only that an “explosive device” had been used.
Shattered glass could be seen in the snow outside the entrance, as well as cracks in a thick glass door, overhead lamps dangling from wiring, and black marks on the ground at the foot of the door, presumably from an explosion.
The cracked glass door at the front of the embassy – Fredrik Varfjell
“One of the hypotheses is that it is an act of terrorism,” Frode Larsen, the head of the police’s joint unit for investigation and intelligence, told NRK, the public broadcaster.
“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,” he said.
Police were searching for the perpetrators but had “no suspects” yet, Mr Larsen told the press conference.
US embassies have been placed on high alert in the Middle East over American military operations in Iran and several have faced attacks as Tehran hits back at industrial and diplomatic targets.
Investigators in Oslo have not ruled out a possible link to the war. It was not immediately known what security the Oslo embassy had.
“It is natural to see this in connection with the current security policy situation,” Mr Larsen said, adding that police had increased security at the scene after the attack.
‘An unacceptable attack’
Espen Barth Eide, Norway’s foreign minister, said he and Astri Aas-Hansen, the public security minister, had been in contact with Eric Meyer, the American embassy charge d’affaires.
In a statement, they said this was “an unacceptable act that we take very seriously [and] the security of diplomatic missions is extremely important to us”.
PST, the Norwegian security service, told the AFP news agency that it had called in extra staff to assist police with the investigation.
Martin Bernsen, the PST spokesman, stressed there had been “no change” to the threat assessment level in the Scandinavian country, which has been at three on a five-point scale since November 2024.
He refused to disclose whether any threats had been made against American interests in Norway before the explosion.
Investigators examined the scene overnight, while dogs, drones, and helicopters were brought in to search for the perpetrators, Oslo police said in a statement.
Several hours after the blast, police declared the area around the building safe for residents and passers-by.
Police urged the public to report any tips or unusual observations from the area between midnight and 2am.
‘Made the ground shake’
A 16-year-old identified only as Edvard told TV2 that he was watching television when he heard the blast.
“My mother and I first thought it came from our house so we looked around a little, but then we saw the flashing lights outside the window and a ton of police,” he said.
“There were police dogs and drones and police with automatic weapons and helicopters in the air,” he said.
A group of three friends told TV2 they were waiting for a taxi near the embassy when the explosion went off.
“We felt three bangs that made the ground shake,” Kristian Wendelborg Einung said.
Once in their taxi, they drove past the scene and saw the street in front of the embassy covered in smoke.
“We arrived before the police. The blanket of smoke was very strange. It was like thick fog,” he said.