Norway tightens security at mosques following gun attack

STOCKHOLM – Norwegian police boosted security around the country’s mosques following a shooting at the Al-noor Islamic center in Baerum, on the outskirts of Oslo.

One person sustained light injuries in Saturday’s incident before the armed attacker was overpowered by people attending the mosque. Police said that a Norwegian citizen is being held in custody on suspicion of attempted murder. They are also investigating the death of a woman related to the suspect as possible murder after her body was discovered at a property in Baerum.

The National Police Directorate asked local forces to take measures to ensure safety around mosques, as the country’s Muslims celebrate the Eid al-adha holiday. Uniformed and non-uniformed officers would be involved in the operation. There are no specific threats, it stressed.

“We strongly condemn any attack on any religion, whether in a mosque, synagogue or church,” Justice Minister Joran Kallmyr said in a statement. “I expect that police will take necessary measures to ensure that all Muslims can celebrate Eid peacefully and safely.”

According to various media reports, the suspect’s online postings had referenced other acts of violence, including shootings at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the El Paso, Texas attack in which 22 were killed earlier this month.

Norway has been spared major incidents since right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik set off a bomb in Oslo and launched a gun attack on a political youth camp at the island of Utoya in 2011, killing 77 people in all.