KABUL - Norway's embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan was closed on Sunday due to "terror threats,'' a Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.
Ministry spokeswoman Kristin Melsom said the embassy had been closed until further notice, but did not elaborate on the nature of the threats or how long the embassy would remain closed.
"It is too early to comment on that,'' she said.
Norway has been singled out at least twice by al Qaeda as a country that should be targeted because of its deployment in Afghanistan and a previous deployment in Iraq.
Norwegian Defence Minister Anne-Grete Strom-Erichsen on Friday confirmed that Norway will add 200 extra troops to its 500 soldiers in Afghanistan with the deployment of special forces and helicopters in March.
In a security document dated Jan. 20, Afghanistan's Interior Ministry listed 15 locations -- including Norway's embassy -- that it said could be targeted by militants.
"According to detective reports, the enemies plan to launch a series of suicide attacks, explosions and harmful activities in Kabul city,'' said the report, which was obtained by The Associated Press in Kabul. "(F)or this purpose the enemies' first plan is to target some more vulnerable infrastructures of Kabul city.''
The embassies of Sweden, Belgium, India, Turkey, Finland and Indonesia were also listed. Government offices and three well-known Kabul hotels -- including the Serena -- were also listed.
From Ottawa Sunday, Foreign Affairs spokesman Jamie Christoff told The Canadian Press "the Canadian embassy is operating as normal'' and remains open.
Canada has 2,500 troops in southern Afghanistan.
In January, an attack by Taliban militants against the luxury Serena Hotel in Kabul killed a Norwegian journalist who was there to cover a visit by the country's foreign minister, Jonas Gahr Stoere. It was initially suspected that Gahr Stoere was the target of the attack, but the minister later said he did not believe that was the case.
