COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Norway has been on its highest security alert for days, with authorities saying they have credible evidence of a planned attack, probably by Islamic jihadists with combat experience.
All police districts across the country have been informed about the threat, and armed police are visible at airports, border crossings and other important hubs.
The Norwegian authorities have said that a group, probably extremist Islamists with combat experience in Syria, is planning an attack at an unknown location in Norway.
“We received information related to an extremist Islamist group recruited in Syria, which may have the intention to carry out a terrorist act in Norway,” Police Security Service (PST) chief Benedicte Bjornland told the media.
Experts believe that the threat comes from the Islamic State (IS/ISIS) and Mullah Krekar, a controversial Kurdish cleric who founded the extremist group Ansar al-Islam and has known ties to al-Qaeda.
He has been jailed in Norway since 2012.
Magnus Ranstorp, an internationally recognized expert on terrorism, believes that jihadi warriors from Syria share links to Mullah Krekar’s network in Norway.
“This means that Norway is interesting as a terrorist target for these Islamist groups. Krekar’s international network during the Iraq war was also prominent at the time,” Ranstorp said.
Lars Gule, another expert on jihadi groups, is convinced that the threat comes from Islamic State, the Sunni militants fighting in Syria and in control of a third of Iraq.
“Although ISIS is currently focusing most on Iraq and Syria, they have a global ideology, where they fight everywhere," Gule said.
He believes that the reason the extremist group has Norway in its crosshairs is because the country has been actively involved in the US-led war in Afghanistan.
Gule said that the 2006 publication of caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed in neighboring Denmark, which many Muslims found highly offensive, had also made Scandinavian countries a target.
"All this has meant that Norway has come into global jihadists’ spotlight," said Gule.
Meanwhile, US intelligence authorities have confirmed that the terrorist threat against Norway is “credible,” according to US television network ABC News.
Lars Erslev Andersen, a researcher in Denmark and author of books on terrorism, believes that last week’s third anniversary of the terrorist attacks in Norway also has contributed to the sense of panic in Norway.
"The Norwegians are more afraid because they've tried it before, in Oslo and Utoya," said Andersen, referring to a 2011 attack by a right-wing extremist that killed 77 people, the worst violence in the country since World War II.
"The police got a lot of criticism for their failure to address the terrorist attacks in Oslo and Utoya. So this time the Norwegian police takes no chances," Andersen said.
Since 2006, Mullah Krekar has been on the United Nations’ terror list. In 2012, he was sentenced to five years in prison in Norway for threats against Norwegian politicians.
Iraq has demanded his extradition for trial, but that has been denied by Norway, which prohibits the expulsion of an individual without a guarantee against the death penalty or torture.
Krekar is also accused of having helped establish a terrorist group in Germany. In March he was questioned in Oslo by German police. Ten people have been charged in the case.
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