World
Norwegian Islamist wanted over deadly shooting at LGBTQ+ festival is being sent back from Pakistan
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A radical Norwegian Islamist who is suspected of complicity in the deadly shooting at an LGBTQ+ festival in Oslo two years ago has been expelled from Pakistan and is on his way to Norway, the Scandinavian country’s government said Friday.
Two people were killed and nine seriously wounded in the shooting at three locations, chiefly outside the London Pub, a popular gay bar in Oslo’s nightlife district, on June 25, 2022.
Arfan Bhatti, who is to land in Oslo later Friday, allegedly posted statements online about killing gay people, Norwgian media have said.
Bhatti knew Zaniar Matapour, the main suspect in the attack that the Norwegian Police Security Service has called an “Islamist terror act.” Matapour has since March been on trial in Oslo for the shooting, accused of terrorism.
A Norwegian citizen born in Oslo to Pakistan immigrants, Bhatti who has a past in criminal gangs, was a leading figure in radical Islamic circles in Norway for years, chiefly known as the leading figure in an Islamic State-affiliated group in the country.
The 46-year-old was not in Norway in 2022 but likely in Pakistan, Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl said. His role in the 2022 shooting was unclear and Norwegian police have said that with Bhatti’s return to Norway, they “want to continue with the extensive investigations to shed light on what involvement Bhatti may have had in the attack.”
“No matter where in the world someone is, they should know that the Norwegian authorities are doing everything we can to bring them to Norway,” Enger Mehl told a press conference.
Norwegian police said that although there is no extradition agreement with Pakistan, Pakistani authorities have made it possible “to complete the investigation into the terrorist case.”
Upon arrival in Norway, Bhatti will be detained and face a custody hearing during the weekend, police said.
Bhatti could be called upon testifying in the trial at the Oslo District Court against Matapour. Bhatti’s lawyer John Christian Elden said his client has nothing to do with the 2022 shooting.
”Whether he is guilty is up to the legal system to decide,” Enger Mehl said.
Matapour, a Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, allegedly fired 10 rounds with a machine gun and eight shots with a handgun into a crowd before being detained by bystanders. Following the attack, a Pride parade was canceled, with police saying they couldn’t guarantee security.
Matapour who had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State group, has refused to speak to investigators. If found guilty, he faces 30 years in prison.
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Israel’s military has recovered the body of a Thai man who was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz and killed in captivity by terror group Kataeb al-Mujahideen shortly after the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, 2023.
Natthapong Pinta’s body was brought back to Israel after an operation by the Israeli Defense Forces and Israeli Security Agency, the military said on Saturday.
“Yesterday (Friday), in a joint IDF and ISA operation, the body of Nattapong Pinta, a Thai national, was recovered from the Rafah area in the Gaza Strip,” the IDF and ISA said in a joint statement.
His family in Thailand was notified by the Thai Embassy and by Brig. Gen. (Res.) Gal Hirsch, who serves as the coordinator for Captives and Missing Persons in the Israeli prime minister’s office.
ISRAEL RECOVERS BODIES OF 2 HOSTAGES FROM GAZA STRIP: ‘MAY THEIR MEMORY BE BLESSED’
The body of Natthapong Pinta, a Thai national who was killed in captivity in Gaza, has been recovered by Israeli forces. (IDF)
Natthapong had come to Israel to work in agriculture, according to Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz.
“I send my deepest condolences to his wife, young son, and family, and I thank our heroic soldiers who, time and again, operate under fire to bring back all the hostages, out of a profound moral commitment,” Katz said in a statement.
“We will not rest until all the hostages — both the living and the fallen — are returned to Israel,” he continued.
7 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE ISRAELI MILITARY’S REPORT ON WHAT HAPPENED ON OCT. 7
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz offered his condolences to the family of Natthapong Pinta. (REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a news release that “the recovery of Nattapong Pinta represents the fulfillment of a basic moral and human obligation, allowing his family the closure they desperately need.”
In a statement, the Hostage Families Forum said: “We stand with Nattapong’s family today and share in their grief.”
“While the pain is immense, his family will finally have certainty after 20 terrible and agonizing months of devastating uncertainty,” the statement continued. “Every family deserves such certainty to begin their personal healing journey.”
Natthapong Pinta’s body was returned to Israel after an operation by the Israeli Defense Forces and Israeli Security Agency. (FNC IDF)
Fifty-five hostages remain in Gaza – 33 of whom are confirmed dead, but at least 20 are alive. There is grave concern for the lives of two hostages.
Fox News’ Yael Rotem-Kuriel contributed to this report.
Published on •Updated
A large Russian attack with drones and missiles has hit Ukraine’s eastern city of Kharkiv on Saturday, killing at least three people and injuring 21, local officials said. The barrage — the latest in near daily widescale attacks — included aerial glide bombs that have become part of a fierce Russian onslaught in the three-year-war .
The intensity of the Russian attacks on Ukraine over the past weeks has further dampened hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon — especially after Kyiv recently embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprise drone attack on military air bases deep inside Russia.
According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Russia struck with 215 missiles and drones overnight, and Ukrainian air defenses shot down and neutralised 87 drones and seven missiles.
Several other areas in Ukraine were also hit, including the regions of Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and the city of Ternopil, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X.
“To put an end to Russia’s killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required, as are more steps to strengthen Ukraine,” he said.
Kharkiv’s mayor Ihor Terekhov said the attack also damaged 18 apartment buildings and 13 private homes. Terekhov said it was “the most powerful attack” on the city since the full-scale invasion in 2022.
Kharkiv’s regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said two districts in the city were struck with three missiles, five aerial glide bombs and 48 drones. Among the injured were two children, a month and a half year old baby boy and a 14-year old girl, he added.
The attack on Kharkiv comes one day after Russia launched one of the fiercest missile and drone barrages on Ukraine, striking six Ukrainian territories and killing at least killing at least six people and injuring about 80. Among the dead were three emergency responders in Kyiv, one person in Lutsk and two people in Chernihiv.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down a Russian Su-35 fighter jet on the Kursk front inside Russia, the Ukrainian daily Ukrainskaia Pravda reported. No more details were given immediately.
U.S. President Donald Trump said this week that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine’s attack on Russian military airfields last Sunday with “Operation Spiderweb”
In a new statement bound to cause offense in Kyiv and amongst its allies, Trump told journalists on board Air Force One on Friday evening local time when asked about “Operation Spiderweb”:
“They gave Putin a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them last night. That’s the thing I didn’t like about it. When I saw it I said ‘Here we go, now it’s going to be a strike’.”
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