[NBC NEWS] U.S. embassy blast in Norway may be ‘linked to current security situation,’ say police

An explosion at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, Norway, early on Sunday may have been a deliberate attack linked to the “current security situation,” the country’s police force has said.

The blast occurred at the embassy compound at around 1 a.m. local time.

It caused minor damage but no injuries, police in the Scandinavian nation said.

It was unclear what caused the blast and no one had been arrested in connection with the incident, police said.

“It’s natural to see this in the context of the current security situation and that this could be an attack deliberately targeting the U.S. embassy,” police spokesperson Frode Larsen told a news conference.

There was minor damage to the public entrance of the embassy, located on the outskirts of Oslo, Michael Dellemyr, the onsite incident commander, told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.

Fredrik Varfjell / NTB / AFP via Getty Images

Police cars stand in front of the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, Norway, on March 8, 2026, hours after a loud bang was reported at the site. Oslo police said an explosion at the U.S. embassy in Norway overnight that caused no injuries and minor material damage may have been an act of terror, but stressed police were also investigating other motives.

Justice Minister Astri Aas-Hansen told Norwegian press agency NTB it was an “unacceptable incident that we are taking very seriously.”

“Police have [deployed] great resources in the area around the American embassy,” police said in a statement following the blast, including dogs, drones and a helicopter.

No further explosive devices had been found in the area.

Video posted to social media after the explosion showed police vehicles and people in tactical gear outside the embassy.

Anna Gilbo, who lives near the compound, also took video from her home that showed smoke in the distance.

“There was a loud bang, and the whole house shook,” Gilbo said.

“There was a very thick layer of smoke on the street,” Sebastian Toerstad, a high school student who was driving past the embassy at the time of the explosion, told the Reuters news agency.

“There was some damage to the entrance,” Toerstad said.

Neither the embassy nor the State Department immediately responded to requests for more information. The Oslo Police District also did not respond to a request for more details.

Sveinung Mikkelsen and Reuters contributed.

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