Western governments lined up to condemn twin attacks in Norway Friday, saying the "cowardly" perpetrators had shown a complete lack of humanity as they vowed to step up intelligence co-operation.
With Norway involved in both the Afghan and Libya campaigns, Nato's chief said the alliance stood united against the "heinous" acts of violence while US President Barack Obama urged countries around the world to step up co-operation in anti-terrorism efforts.
The attacks were "a reminder that the entire international community has a stake in preventing this kind of terror from occurring," Obama said during a meeting with New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key. "We have to work co-operatively together on intelligence and in terms of prevention of these kinds of horrible attacks," added Obama after receiving a briefing on the attacks from his top anti-terrorism adviser John Brennan.
Nato's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance was united in its repugnance at the "heinous acts of violence in Norway".
"Our solidarity with Norway remains steadfast. Nato countries stand united in the battle against these acts of violence," he added.
Norwegian combat jets have conducted bombings in the air war against Moamer Kadhafi's regime in Libya, although it is withdrawing the warplanes at the end of the month.
The Norwegian military said in May that it had been the victim of a serious cyber attack at the end of March on the day after its jets for the first time carried out bombings in Libya.
Norway also has around 500 military personnel in Afghanistan, primarily in Kabul and in the north. The condemnations from Rasmussen and Obama were echoed by Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Union, who spoke of his "deep shock" at the killings.
"I condemn in the strongest terms these acts of cowardice for which there is no justification." Van Rompuy said he sent a message of "condolences and solidarity" from the 27-nation EU to Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.