Terrorism in Norway


Terrorism in Norway includes a list of major incidents where organized groups and lone wolves have tried carrying out attacks. In recent years, there has been a rise mostly of Islamist and far-right violence and various groups have been suspected of terrorism or terrorism plans.
The Norwegian Police Security Service is closely monitoring the Islamist and the far-right groups in South-Eastern Norway.

21st century

In 1998 the Norwegian branch of the Nordic Resistance Movement the Norwegian Resistance Movement, was founded and chaired by Haakon Forwald. He has been described by the newspaper Verdens Gang as one of the most dangerous people in Northern Europe. He was born in Røyken, Viken, Norway and resides now in Grängesberg, Dalarna, Sweden with his two children.
The right-wing terrorist Philip Manshaus who was behind the Bærum mosque shooting in August 2019, admitted to have been in contact with the Nordic Resistance Movement prior to the attack, but was never accepted as a member.

DateTypeDeadInjuredDetailsPerpetrator
1965Bombings0SeveralSeveral people were hurt by hand grenades and dynamite in Oslo by an unknown lone wolf extremist.Lone Wolf
1973Attempted attack00The terror threat during the 1973 oil crisis. A Palestinian terror group was present in Norway, ready to strike against an oil refinery outside Tønsberg. Police raised the alarm after learning of the plot, causing the group to withdraw.Palestinian Nationalists
1976Attempted terror plot00In Stortorvet, two Mexican brothers were arrested and suspected to be left-wing terrorists, planning to create a terror organisation in Europe. They were later arrested in Denmark and Sweden for terrorist offences, including a plan to kidnap Sweden's labour minister Anna-Greta Leijon. Eventually the both were expelled to Mexico and Cuba.Tomas and Jaime Okusono Martinez
1977Bombing00A bookstore in Tromsø belonging to the Workers' Communist Party was severely damaged by a powerful bomb containing 10 kg of dynamite. Two people narrowly avoided death as they left the room shortly before the explosion.Right-wing extremists
1979Bombing04A right-wing political activist launched a bomb attack against a May Day workers' gathering in Oslo.Petter Kristian Kyvik
1982Bombing111The 1982 Oslo Central Station bombing, killing one person and injuring 11 others. An 18-year-old was convicted, claiming he had extorted the Norwegian State Railways.Lone Wolf
1984Bombing00The telecommunications bunker in Frogner Park was bombarded and completely destroyed with dynamite. Neo-fascists were thought to have perpetrated it. The authorities hid this from the public for a whole year as the telephone exchange contained equipment related to NATO.Right-wing extremists
1985Bombing01In 1985 the Ahmadiyya Muslim Nor mosque at Frogner in Oslo was blasted with dynamite. A woman at 38 years old received smoke damage. The bomb was detonated by an activist from the National People's Party, which resulted in several other people from the party being arrested by the police. The arrested were also accused of bombing the Frogner Park telephone exchange in 1984.Right-wing extremists
1988Attempted bombing00A time bomb made of 5 kg of dynamites was discovered at an asylum centre in Evje.Right-wing extremists
1990Bombing00Neo-nazis were suspected of a bomb attack against the Blitz house on 21 August.Neo-nazis
1993Shooting, assassination attempt01In 1993 Aschehoug chief William Nygaard was shot three times in the back but survived. The attack is believed to be a result of Nygaard publishing and defending Salman Rushdie's controversial novel The Satanic Verses. Harald Stanghelle characterized the assassination as state terrorism.Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
1994Bombing00Neo-nazis were suspected of another bomb attack against the Blitz house on 24 August 1994.Neo-nazis
2003Bombing00A power charged dynamite exploded outside a Word of Truth church in Slemmestad. Serious damage was made to the building and its surroundings.Militants
2006Shooting00Arfan Bhatti, a well-known Islamist fired 11 shots against the Oslo Synagogue.Arfan Bhatti
2006Shooting, assassination attempt00In July 2006 Arfan Bhatti was charged but not convicted for shots fired against the home of journalist Nina Johnsrud of the newspaper Dagsavisen.Arfan Bhatti
2009Attempted terror plot00In 2009 the Norwegian Police Security Service actioned against 25 Islamists thought to have planned terror in Norway.Islamists
2010Attempted terror plot00Islamist Mullah Krekar threatened to kill the prime minister of Norway Erna Solberg during a news conference in June 2010. On July 12, 2011, terrorism charges were filed against him.Mulla Krekar
2010Attempted terror plot00The 2010 Norway terror plot in which three Islamists were arrested and later convicted for terror plans.Al-Qaeda
22 July, 2011Shooting, bombing77319The 2011 attacks, in which 77 people were killed and at least 319 injured in two sequential lone wolf attacks by Anders Behring Breivik.Anders Behring Breivik
July, 2014Attempted terror plot00The 2014 terror threat by jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant which caused extraordinary short-term security measures in Norway.Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
8 April, 2017Attempted bombing00On 8 April 2017 in the aftermath of the 2017 Stockholm attack, a man was arrested and part of the Grønland district of Oslo closed off by police after a "bomb-like" device was found. The device was later demolished in a controlled explosion. The man, a 17-year-old Russian citizen, was charged on 9 April with illegal possession of an explosive device. The man arrived in Norway as an asylum seeker in 2010, and was known to the Norwegian Police Security Service for having expressed support for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.Islamic State
10 August, 2019Shooting11 The Bærum mosque shooting occurred when a lone gunman opened fire in a mosque in Bærum, Norway, 20 kilometers outside of Oslo. He injured one person and at the time of the shooting there were three other people in the mosque. He was also suspected of killing his stepsister hours before the mosque shooting.Philip Manshaus