Seventeen dead in Norway bomb and gun attack
A view shows the aftermath of a blast on a street in Oslo July 22, 2011. Reuters

A 32-year-old Norwegian man was taken into custody Friday following two attacks that killed approximately 17 people.

Police have said the attacks are connected, according to CNN.

The powerful car bomb explosions outside a government headquarters in the Norwegian capital of Olso early on Friday was followed by an attack at a youth camp on an island outside of the capital. At least seven people were killed in Oslo, and 10 were killed on Utoya Island, about 20 miles away, officials told CNN.

Police spokesman Are Frykholm told CNN that the man arrested on the island look like he matches the description of a person who was seen near the government buildings shortly before the bomb exploded. Frykholm said the man was wearing a police emblem on his blue sweater, even though he's not employed by the police. The man was arrested after counter-terrorism forces stormed the island.

Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's office was in the bombed building. He is unharmed and addressed the nation on Friday. Stoltenberg's Labour Party has been in power since 2005.

No one will bomb us to silence. No one will shoot us to silence. No one will ever scare us away from begin Norway, Stoltenberg said the press conference.

You will not destroy us. You will not destroy our democracy or our ideals for a better world... We will find the guilty and hold them responsible.

The New York Times reported that militant group Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami, or the Helpers of the Global Jihad, claimed responsibility for the bombing, but a terrorism expert told BBC that the terror group was not behind either attack.

It has also been proposed that the attack was the work of Al-Qaeda, targeting Norway for their involvement in Afghanistan.

What is known is that three suspected terrorists were arrested earlier this month for an alleged plot to attack Norway and Germany. Additionally, intelligence agencies this month said that The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan had been planning a European attack from the mountain in Pakistan. Some of the militants are believed to be European citizens.

Analysts are also focusing their attention on domestic extremist groups, believing that the attack on the government building, as well as the government sponsored summer camp, could be politically motivated.