Three brothers of Iraqi origin have been arrested in connection with an explosion at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, Norway.

Reports Of Explosion At U.S. Embassy In European Country

The brothers, all in their 20s, are Norwegian citizens and were taken into custody on Wednesday afternoon.

CBS News explained further:

The explosion occurred at one of the entrances to the U.S. Embassy around 1 a.m. local time, Oslo police previously said. Police incident commander Michael Dellemyr told public broadcaster NRK that the blast hit the entrance of the embassy's consular section.

Police reinforced security measures in Oslo and increased their presence around the embassy after the blast. Police also upped security measures to protect the Iranian diaspora and Jewish communities in Norway. Officials said that there were no indications of a lingering threat after the explosion.

Frode Larsen, head of the Oslo police investigation unit, told reporters at a news conference that it may have been a deliberate attack linked to the crisis in the Middle East, Reuters reported. He later told NRK that terrorism was one of several motives authorities were investigating.

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The brothers were arrested on suspicion of a "terrorist bombing" at the building.

Investigators are still trying to determine a motive.

"We are still working from several hypotheses. One of them is whether this is an order from a government entity," said police prosecutor Christian Hatlo, according to CBS News.

"This is quite natural given the target — the U.S. embassy — and the security situation the world is in today," he added.

More from the New York Post:

One of the brothers is believed to have planted the improvised explosive, while the other two were involved in plotting the attack, where nobody was injured, Hatlo added.

“We believe they detonated a powerful bomb at the US ​embassy with the intention of taking lives or causing significant damage,” Hatlo said, adding that none of the ​suspects had been interrogated yet.

Authorities had released eerie images on Monday of one of the hooded suspects with his face hidden and carrying a backpack.

Before the suspects were arrested, investigators had said that the bombing was possibly an “act of terrorism” linked to the escalating war in the Middle East after US-Israeli strikes killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran.

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