Man kills five with bow and arrows in Norway before ‘confrontation’ with police

Published

3 years ago

October 13, 2021

admin

Five people have been killed and two others – including an off-duty police officer – were injured in a series of bow and arrow attacks in Norway, according to police.

The incidents took place in the town of Kongsberg, 51 miles (82km) southwest of the capital, Oslo.

A suspect has been apprehended by police, who believe he allegedly acted alone.

There was a confrontation with officers and the man tried to run away before he was arrested, the police chief said.

Two other people were wounded and are in intensive care, including an officer who was off duty and inside the shop where the attack took place, police said.

The attacks are related to a Coop Extra supermarket in the town centre and Coop spokesman Harald Kristiansen said: “We can confirm that there has been a serious incident in our store and that none of our employees are physically injured.

“We are now concerned with following up our employees, and beyond that, we refer to the police investigation.”

Police were called to the incident, in the centre of Kongsberg, at 6.30pm on Wednesday with additional resources sent from other areas, including Oslo.

Police chief Oeyvind Aas told a news conference: “I can, unfortunately, confirm that several people have been killed and injured.

“A man was apprehended at 6.47pm. From the information we have at the moment, one person committed this act alone. He hasn’t been questioned yet so it’s too early to say what the motive was.

”There is major police activity in the area because there are many crime scenes.”

He declined to comment on the number of casualties and said he could not comment on whether the man was known to the police.

The suspect has now been taken to Drammen police station.

Chief Aas added: “It is natural to consider whether it is an act of terrorism. He has not been questioned, and it is too early to come to any conclusion.”

Asked if he could confirm that a police officer had been shot in the back, he replied: “I can’t answer that question”.

The attacks took place over a “large area” of Kongsberg, a municipality of around 28,000 people in southeastern Norway, police said.

“There is still a lot of police activity in the area. This is because the perpetrator has moved across a large area, and we are now working, among other things, to secure clues and gather as much information as possible about what has happened,” said Chief Aas.

The injured people have been taken to hospital and Kongsberg council’s crisis team is giving help to those who need it.

Unni Grondal, Oslo police spokesperson, said: “We are helping with national assistance resources such as police helicopters, bomb squads, and crews from the emergency response troop.”

Norway’s minister of justice and public security, Monica Maeland, has been informed and is closely monitoring the situation.

Local media reported a large area on the west side of the town had been cordoned off, with investigations now under way.

British ambassador to Norway, Richard Wood, wrote on Twitter: “Police confirming that five people have been killed in #Kongsberg and several injured including a policeman. A shocking incident. Sincere condolences to those affected.”

Norwegian police – who normally do not carry guns – have been ordered to temporarily arm themselves.

The Norwegian police directorate said: “This is an additional contingency measure. The police do not yet have any concrete indications that there is a change in the threat level in the country.”

Acting Prime Minister Erna Solberg called the attack “gruesome” and said it was too early to speculate on the man’s motive.

She added: “The perpetrator has carried out horrific acts against several people. The incident has shaken us.”

World

Bodies of three Israeli hostages killed at music festival recovered in Gaza

Published

12 hours ago

May 18, 2024

admin

Bodies of three Israeli hostages killed at music festival recovered in Gaza

The bodies of three Israeli hostage taken by Hamas have been recovered in Gaza.

The remains were discovered in an overnight operation carried out by Israel’s military and intelligence agency Shin Bet, said chief military spokesman Daniel Hagari.

Itzhak Gelerenter, 56, Amit Buskila, 28, and Shani Louk, 22, were killed at the Nova music festival on 7 October, with their bodies then taken into Gaza by Hamas militants.

Ms Louk’s body was seen face-down in a pick-up truck travelling through Gaza in a video that was shared widely on social media after the hostages were taken.

Israel-Gaza war latest updates

“They were celebrating life in the Nova music festival and they were murdered by Hamas,” said Mr Hagari.

He said their families have been notified.

“Our hearts go out to them, to the families at this difficult time. We will leave no stone unturned, we will do everything in our power to find our hostages and bring them home.”

The military did not give immediate details on where their bodies were found.

Ms Louk’s father has said the return of his daughter’s body to her family has been a form of closure.

Nissim Louk told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz his daughter “radiated light, to her and those who surrounded her, and in her death she still does”.

He added: “She is a symbol of the people of Israel, between light and darkness. Her inner and outer beauty that shone for all the world to see is a special one.”

In November, the brother of Ms Louk told Sky News of their last phone call as his sister tried to escape Hamas.

Speaking about the video that was circulated online after she was taken, Amit Louk said: “I never thought I was going to be in contact with this type of video, seeing my sister in that brutal position.

“And just in that moment, the whole family just crashed.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deaths “heartbreaking”, saying: “We will return all of our hostages, both the living and the dead.”

Meanwhile, Professor Hagai Levine, a member of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, has said the recovery of the bodies is a “painful reminder” of those who are still in captivity.

“We do not lose hope. We are preparing for the return of the hostages that are alive,” he added.

Israel has been operating in the Gaza Strip’s southern city of Rafah, where it says it has intelligence that hostages are being held.

Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducted around 250 others in the 7 October attack.

Around half of those have since been freed, most in swaps for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel during a ceasefire in November.

Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more.

Israel’s campaign in Gaza since the attack has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.

Mr Netanyahu has vowed to both eliminate Hamas and bring all the hostages back.

He faces pressure to resign, and the US has threatened to scale back its support over the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Israelis are divided into two main camps: those who want the government to put the war on hold and free the hostages, and others who think the hostages are an unfortunate price to pay for eradicating Hamas.

World

Slovakia PM shooting: Friend of suspect recalls laughing with him just days before assassination attempt

Published

15 hours ago

May 17, 2024

admin

Slovakia PM shooting: Friend of suspect recalls laughing with him just days before assassination attempt

Mile L’Udovit is leaning on the front door of his apartment block when we meet, just as he has done so often since moving in four decades ago.

He was one of the original tenants of the tatty building and so was his dear friend Juraj Cintula – the man charged with trying to kill Slovakia’s prime minister.

Mile is at once shocked, bemused, appalled and bewildered.

“He’s a good friend,” he tells me. Both men are 71 years old and talked often. “He was a decent, polite man. A good worker. His wife is a professor and his kids were okay. He had a good reputation. Everything was okay.

“Nobody expected something like this to happen. No one could imagine it. That’s the worst thing about it.

“I spoke to him on Monday and we were having a laugh, like neighbours do. It’s so unpleasant.”

He shakes his head and gestures up to Cintula’s apartment on the top of the building. “He will either die or get a life sentence. It’s going to be so hard for his family.”

Cintula has not yet been officially identified as the suspect, but it’s common knowledge in Slovakia.

Armed police even brought him back to the apartment, dressed in a bulletproof jacket and helmet, to help gather evidence. So why, I ask Mile, did his old friend allegedly try to kill Robert Fico?

“You know, I can’t really say,” he replies thoughtfully. “We took politics as something to laugh at. But we kept our own opinions – he had his, I had mine.

“He was opposed to certain acts of the government and his opinions were quite different. But what was in his mind? Really, nobody knows.”

World

Slovakia’s PM Robert Fico has second surgery in two days after assassination attempt leaves him in ‘very serious’ condition

Published

15 hours ago

May 17, 2024

admin

Slovakia's PM Robert Fico has second surgery in two days after assassination attempt leaves him in 'very serious' condition

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico has had a second surgery in two days after being shot multiple times in Europe’s first assassination attempt in more than 20 years.

The 59-year-old was shot multiple times while greeting supporters in the former mining town of Handlova on Wednesday. A man has been arrested over the shooting.

Mr Fico was left with life-threatening injuries, and while his condition improved the president-elect of Slovakia said he escaped death “by just a hair”.

He is currently recovering at the University FD Roosevelt Hospital in Banska Bystrica, and underwent a second surgery to remove dead tissue inside of his body.

Hospital director Miriam Lapunikova said he underwent a CT scan and is currently awake and stable in an intensive care unit, but added his condition is still “very serious”.

Deputy prime minister Robert Kaliniak also told reporters: “I think it will take several more days until we will definitely know the direction of the further development.”

While Mr Fico continued to recover from the attack – the first assassination attempt of a European political leader for more than 20 years – police brought the suspect to his home while they searched it.

Markiza, a Slovakian television station, showed footage of the suspect accompanied by police in the town of Levice and reported police had seized a computer and some documents.

He was then escorted out and back into the police car.

The suspect was previously named as 71-year-old Juraj Cintula. He is said to be a writer and poet.

President-elect Peter Pellegrini said on Thursday that the prime minister is living “the worst hours and days of his life” after the shooting.

If the “gunshot wounds were just a few millimetres either side, we would be talking about him as the late prime minister”, he said.

Mr Fico has long been a divisive figure. His return to power last year on a pro-Russian, anti-American ticket led to worries among fellow EU and NATO members that he would turn his country further away from the Western mainstream.

Under his stewardship, the government has halted arms deliveries to Ukraine, and his opponents worry he will lead Slovakia in the footsteps of Viktor Orban’s Hungary.

Thousands have repeatedly rallied in the capital and across Slovakia to protest against Mr Fico’s policies.