The Metropolitan Police has closed off a part of Grettisgata street in downtown Reykjavík. Armed special forces units are at the scene. Police has yet to give out any information about the nature of the operation.
A part of Grettisgata street, which runs parallel to Laugavegur, the main shopping street, has been closed off by police. The stretch between Vitastígur and Frakkastígur streets has been cordoned off by officers. Eight patrol cars are currently in the area. The local TV Station Stöð 2 reports that at least eight armed special forces units are stationed outside a home on the street. The officers have not attempted to enter the building, but stand in front carrying riot shields.
Updated at 12:25
The police operation seems to have been completed and the street has been re-opened to traffic. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police told the local news site Vísir that the public was never in any danger, but refused to say why the officers had closed the street or why armed special forces units had been dispatched to the scene.
Journalists at the scene confirm that police officers were seen entering the building which had been under siege, but nobody seems to have been arrested at the scene.
Several robberies at pharmacies have been reported in recent weeks, as have a number of violent incidents between members of the Icelandic criminal underworld. Police has said there are signs of growing tensions between different groups of criminals. The local newspaper DV reports that many cases of armed robberies where drug dealers are attacked by rivals or or by addicts have been on the increase in recent months.
We will update this story as the story develops.
The Metropolitan Police has closed off a part of Grettisgata street in downtown Reykjavík. Armed special forces units are at the scene. Police has yet to give out any information about the nature of the operation.
A part of Grettisgata street, which runs parallel to Laugavegur, the main shopping street, has been closed off by police. The stretch between Vitastígur and Frakkastígur streets has been cordoned off by officers. Eight patrol cars are currently in the area. The local TV Station Stöð 2 reports that at least eight armed special forces units are stationed outside a home on the street. The officers have not attempted to enter the building, but stand in front carrying riot shields.
Updated at 12:25
The police operation seems to have been completed and the street has been re-opened to traffic. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police told the local news site Vísir that the public was never in any danger, but refused to say why the officers had closed the street or why armed special forces units had been dispatched to the scene.
Journalists at the scene confirm that police officers were seen entering the building which had been under siege, but nobody seems to have been arrested at the scene.
Several robberies at pharmacies have been reported in recent weeks, as have a number of violent incidents between members of the Icelandic criminal underworld. Police has said there are signs of growing tensions between different groups of criminals. The local newspaper DV reports that many cases of armed robberies where drug dealers are attacked by rivals or or by addicts have been on the increase in recent months.
We will update this story as the story develops.
