Oslo explosion kills at least 2

A massive explosion rocked downtown Oslo on Friday, killing at least two people, injuring several others and causing widespread damage in Norway's government center, news reports said.

The Norwegian public broadcaster NRK reported that police believe the blast was due to a bomb. News agencies said the twisted, charred wreckage of a car could be seen close to the blast site.

The explosion occurred near Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's office, but Norwegian media said Stoltenberg was safe.

Video footage showed streets littered with shattered glass, documents and other debris as terrified people fled the scene to safety, heading away from Oslo's normally bustling downtown.

Nearly all the windows of one multistory building appeared to have been blown out. Another building was on fire. A huge plume of smoke rose into the sky.

Wali Karzai Memorial Service Bombed

(KANDAHAR, Afghanistan) — A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing four people among those who had gathered for a memorial service for the president's assassinated half brother, the government said.

Among those killed in the explosion in Kandahar city was Hekmatullah Hekmat, the head of the clerical council for the province, the Interior Ministry said. At least 13 people were wounded, said Zalmai Ayubi, spokesman for the provincial governor.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Sarra Jamai mosque in the southwest of the city had been filled with relatives and friends of the president's half brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, who was killed earlier this week. They were offering their condolences to the family of the provincial leader.

Wali Karzai was shot at close range by a confidant on Tuesday, leaving President Hamid Karzai without a powerful ally in Kandahar province, a former Taliban stronghold and the site of recent military offensives by the U.S.-led military coalition.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the killing, which has threatened to create a power vacuum in the south.

Source: www.time.com