Assailant with bow and arrows kills 5 people in Norway
Copenhagen (Denmark), Oct 14: A man armed with a bow fired arrows at shoppers in a small Norwegian town Wednesday, killing five people before he was arrested, authorities said.
The police chief in the community of Kongsberg, near the capital of Oslo, said there was a confrontation between officers and the assailant, but he did not elaborate. Two other people were wounded and hospitalized in intensive care, including an officer who was off duty and inside the shop where the attack took place, police said.
The man who carried out the act has been arrested by the police, and there is no active search for more people. Based on the information we have, there is one person behind this, Police Chief Oeyving Aas said.
Acting Prime Minister Erna Solberg described the attack as gruesome and said it was too early to speculate on a motive. The prime minister-designate, Jonas Gahr Stoere, who is expected to take office Thursday, called the assault a cruel and brutal act in comments to Norwegian news agency NTB.
Police were alerted to the attack around 6:15 p.m. and arrested the suspect about 30 minutes later. The community of some 26,000 inhabitants is about 66 kilometers (41 miles) southwest of Oslo.
According to police, the suspect walked around downtown Kongsberg shooting arrows. Aas declined to comment on reports that the man used a crossbow, saying only there were several crime scenes.
The man has not been questioned yet, Aas said.
Norway's domestic security agency PST was informed of the assault.
Town officials invited people who were affected by the attack and their relatives to gather for support at a local hotel.
Mass killings are rare in Norway. The country's worst peacetime slaughter was on July 22, 2011, when right-wing extremist Anders Breivik set off a bomb in the capital of Oslo, killing eight people. Then he headed to tiny Utoya Island, where he stalked the mostly teen members of the Labor Party's youth wing and killed another 69 victims.
Breivik was sentenced to 21 years in prison, the maximum under Norwegian law, but his term can be extended as long as he's considered a danger to society.
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Odisha: Expelled Congress leader Mohammed Moquim announces new party, to be launched on Apr 8
Bhubaneswar (PTI): Former MLA Mohammed Moquim announced that his new party will be named 'Odisha Janata Congress', and it will be formally launched on April 8.
He was expelled from the Congress in December last year after questioning party president Mallikarjun Kharge's leadership because of his age.
Moquium, who represented the Cuttack-Barabati assembly segment, said he decided to launch the new party after receiving a "positive response" from people to fight corruption.
"Both the BJD and Congress have lost their relevance, which is evident from their newfound bonhomie during the Rajya Sabha polls. Though the BJD ruled the state for 24 years, it has done nothing substantial for youths," he claimed.
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Moquim said the new party's flag is almost ready, with three colours.
"We are working on the symbol, and I have applied for the party's registration with the Election Commission," he said.
"People from across the state would join the programme at the Exhibition Ground in Bhubaneswar, from where the new party would be launched. It will be a youth-centric party," he added.
After his expulsion from the Congress, Moquim held a youth convention in Bhubaneswar. It was attended by his daughter, Sofia Firdous, who is the incumbent Congress MLA from Cuttack-Barabati.
