Sandvika - An attack by a gunman
at a Norwegian mosque on Saturday will be investigated as a
possible act of terrorism, police said on Sunday.
The suspected shooter at the al-Noor Islamic Centre near the
Norwegian capital - a young, white male carrying several guns -
had expressed far-right, anti-immigrant views online, assistant
chief of police Rune Skjold told a news conference.
"We're investigating this as an attempt at carrying out an
act of terrorism," he said.
The suspect had been apprehended after the attack, in which
shots were fired but no one was hit, with one of the people
inside the mosque having overpowered him before police arrived.
"These people showed great courage," Skjold added.
Only three people were present in the mosque at the time of
the attack, preparing for Sunday's celebration of the
Eid-al-Adha festival, mosque spokesman Waheed Ahmed told Reuters
on Saturday.
Mohammad Rafiq, a 65-year-old retired Pakistani Air Force
officer, was the first of the three to approach the attacker,
the mosque said.
"I suddenly heard shooting from outside," Rafiq told Reuters
via an interpreter, adding that a man then entered the building
with guns and pistols.
"He started to fire towards the two other men," Rafiq said,
adding that he had then grabbed the attacker, holding him down
and wrestling the weapons off the attacker.
People gather to show support, outside the mosque Islamic Cultural Centre in Oslo. Picture: Fredrik Hagen /NTB scanpix via AP
His eye red and one hand swollen, Rafiq, who has lived in
Norway for the past two and a half years, said he was still
recovering from the attack.
"He put his finger inside my eye, up to here; full finger
inside my eye," Rafiq added.
The attacker, who has not been named, was also suspected of
killing one of his own family members, a young woman who was
found dead at his home, police said earlier.
The mosque had implemented extra security measures this year
after the massacre of more than 50 people at two New Zealand
mosques by a suspected right-wing extremist.
Police attend the scene after a shooting inside the al-Noor Islamic Centre mosque in Baerum outside Oslo. Picture: Terje Pedersen / NTB scanpix via AP
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said police had ramped
up security on Sunday as thousands of Muslims gathered at
mosques for the Eid celebration.
While the government continuously tries to combat hate
speech, more must still be done, she added.
"We are trying to combat this, but it's a challenge. I think
it's a word-wide challenge in a sense," Solberg said.
In 2011, anti-Muslim neo-Nazi Anders Behring Breivik
massacred 77 people in Norway's worst peacetime atrocity, the
majority of them teenagers at a youth camp.