Alleged Oslo Terrorists Claim Responsibility Via Jihadi Forums, YouTube

A shadowy terrorist group called Assistants of the Global Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing of the Norwegian Prime Minister's office and a massacre at a children's day camp via the Internet.

A terrorists group has claimed responsibility for today's attacks in Oslo, Norway--which included the bombing of the Prime Minister's office and a massacre at a children's day camp by a gunman dressed as a police officer--using social media.

An obscure group called Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami (Assistants of the Global Jihad) posted a message on an Islamist bulletin board called Smukh and may have uploaded a video to YouTube several days ago predicting the attack, in which at least seven people were killed.

Ansar al-Jihad's Abu Sulayman al-Nasir allegedly posted a message claiming responsibility for the Oslo attacks on the Arabic-language jihadist forum Shamikh. According to a partial translation by terrorism expert Will McCants of Jihadica, al-Nasir claims the attacks were in retribution for the occupation of Afghanistan by foreign troops and unnamed insults to the Muslim prophet Muhammad. Al-Nasir also threatens further attacks:
We have warned since the Stockholm raid of more operations and we have demanded that the countries of Europe withdraw from the land of Afghanistan and end their war on Islam and Muslims. What you see is only the beginning and there is more to come.

The “Stockholm raid” reference is in response to a 2010 suicide bombing in Sweden.

The original post on Shamikh was taken offline and apparently replaced by the terrorist version of a 404 page.

Commenters on Twitter are also claiming that a Polish-language video uploaded to YouTube several days ago and taken later taken offline predicted terrorist attacks in Oslo. However, since the video is not available, the veracity of this claim is unknown. An alleged cache of the YouTube clip is shown below.

The Norwegian Prime Minister's office was hit by what appears to be a sophisticated car bomb, and a gunman opened fire on a day camp in Oslo affiliated with the Norwegian Labor Party. An exact casualty count is not known, but Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg is unharmed.

This is an ongoing story; media sources are still unclear on the number of bombs that have gone off in Oslo, the number of casualties, and what exactly happened at the day camp shooting. We recommend checking the Twitter feeds of the New York Times, BBC, and Norwegian journalist Rune Håkonsen for the latest.

Updated: 14:40 EST