Explosion outside the US embassy in Oslo, an investigation launched

An explosion was heard in the early hours of Sunday morning in front of the US Embassy in Oslo, but no one was injured, Norwegian police announced.

This explosion occurred around 1 a.m., police said, adding that they had no information at this stage about its origin.

According to police operations commander Michael Dellemyr, interviewed by the public broadcaster NRK, the explosion struck the entrance to the consular section of the embassy.

"The investigation is only just beginning."

"The damage is minor," said Michael Dellemyr. "We will not comment on the nature of the damage, what exploded, or other similar details beyond the fact that there was an explosion," he added, because "the investigation is only just beginning." He then told the private channel TV2 that the police "had an idea of the cause," adding vaguely, "It seems to us that this was an act committed by someone." Investigators are interviewing witnesses, he explained, while according to TV2, a bomb disposal team is on site. The area is largely cordoned off. A large part of the area around the embassy has been cordoned off, and police were stopping cars traveling nearby, according to media reports. A 16-year-old resident of the area, identified only by his first name, Edvard, told TV2 that he was watching television when he heard the explosion.

"My mother and I initially thought it was coming from our house, so we looked around, but then we saw flashing lights outside the window and a crowd of police officers," he said.

US Embassies on High Alert

US embassies have been placed on high alert in the Middle East due to US military operations in Iran, and several have been targeted in attacks, with Tehran retaliating against industrial and diplomatic targets.

But police have given no indication that the incident near the embassy in Oslo was related to the war in the Middle East.

"We are not linking it to the conflict. It is much too early for that," Michael Dellemyr told TV2.