Bow-And-Arrow Attack Appears To Be An "Act Of Terror": Norway

Residents have placed tributes for those killed in Kongsberg town centre:picture courtesy EPA/BBC

A deadly bow and arrow attack in Norway which left five people dead appears to have been an act of terror, Norway's security service (PST) said. The suspect, a Danish Muslim convert, named Espen Andersen Brathen, was already on their radar over fears he had been radicalised.

However a motive has not yet been determined.

Four women and a man died and two others were injured on Wednesday in the south-eastern town of Kongsberg in Norway's deadliest attack in a decade.

In a press release on Thursday (in Norwegian), police said Brathen was due to appear in court on Friday at 09:00 local time (07:00 GMT).

A police lawyer told public broadcaster NRK he would be assessed by psychiatrists.

Residents have been deeply shaken by the violence.

Flags were flown at half-mast on Thursday while flowers and other memorials were placed in Kongsberg's main square.

The victims were all aged between 50 and 70, regional police chief Ole Bredrup Saeverud told reporters at a Thursday morning news briefing.

It was the deadliest attack since far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people in 2011.

Since then, Norway has seen one other far-right attack, carried out by a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi who opened fire into a mosque.