The message from Oslo.....Lowering guard has proved costly

Only a few days after the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai terrorists have struck at Oslo, the Norwegian capital, well known for its role in brokering peace in Sri Lanka, West Asia and elsewhere. Those behind the terrorist killings in the two cities, far away from each other, may not be members of the same group, but they are believers in the same negative ideology. Terrorists struck on Friday at two places in Oslo — a building complex housing the Norwegian Prime Minister’s office and at a summer camp in the island of Utoya — leading to the death of 80 people. Those attending the camp were young members of the ruling Labour Party. The exact motive of the terrorists may be found out after the investigations are over. Thorough questioning of the person arrested immediately after the two incidents may provide significant details about the outfits involved.

Two groups have claimed responsibility for the Oslo killings — the Ansar al-Jihad al-Islami or the Helpers of the Global Jihad and the Ansar al-Islam, a Kurdish outfit — but they may not be the real culprits. As some counter-terrorism experts have warned, making claims by these outfits may be aimed at confusing the investigators. No one is sure if these groups really exist. It is strongly believed that what happened in Oslo is the handiwork of homegrown terrorists. If this is true, then Friday’s attacks need to be taken with greater seriousness. This will mean that Al-Qaida and its associates have made inroads in the local population of the countries and cities on their radar screen. But it is all confusion at this stage. Significantly, Muslim leaders of Norway have condemned the Oslo killings.
Terrorists have been striking at different places in Europe after the 7/7 attack in London. They targeted Sweden in December 2010. Denmark had been receiving threats after a newspaper published cartoons of Prophet Mohammed in 2005. Ayman al-Zawahiri, who has taken over as Al-Qaida head after Osama bin Laden’s death, threatened to hit Norway after it supported the US-led NATO operations in Afghanistan. It seems the Norwegian authorities did not take Zawahiri’s words as seriously as they ought to have. Lowering their guard has proved very costly to them.