US Embassy and Five Other Locations Targeted by Letter Bombs in Spain | Police News
Explosive devices concealed in postal parcels target the American and Ukrainian embassies, an arms manufacturer and three Spanish government institutions.
The US Embassy in Madrid received a letter similar to the five letter bombs sent to the Ukrainian Embassy in Spain and other targets in the country, according to La Sexta TV channel.
Deputy Interior Minister Rafael Perez told reporters earlier Thursday that letter bombs received by five other offices, including the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid, a Spanish arms manufacturer and three government institutions, had been sent from within the country.
“It looks like they were all sent from inside the country, but we are basing it on the first visual inspections without having an in-depth technical report yet,” he said.
The Interior Ministry said on Thursday that an “envelope containing pyrotechnic material” addressed to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had been received on November 24 and disarmed by his security team.
A “similar” package was received by the Ukrainian Embassy on Wednesday, addressed to Ambassador Serhii Pohoreltsev and exploded when opened by a security official.
Spanish special services discover a package loaded with bombs at an air base in Torrejon de Ardoz, Spain.
The package is the third explosive device discovered by Spanish authorities, after the first detonated at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid and the second at a military installation. pic.twitter.com/12CtdqguCm
— Gurbaksh Singh Chahal (@gchahal) December 1, 2022
Another package was received late Wednesday at the headquarters of Spanish arms maker Instalaza in Zaragoza, northeastern Spain, police said.
Instalaza manufactures the C90 rocket launcher that Spain supplied to Ukraine.
Spanish security forces also found a device early Thursday in an envelope sent to a European Union satellite center at an airbase in Torrejon de Ardoz, near Madrid, the defense ministry said.
The satellite center supports the EU’s common foreign and security policy by gathering information from space intelligence devices, according to its website, and was recently described by the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, as part of the “eyes of Europe”.
A fifth device was received at the Spanish Defense Ministry on Thursday morning and defused by specialist police, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.
A source close to the investigation told Reuters news agency that the devices were in similar brown envelopes and addressed to officials at each institution.
They contained loose gunpowder with an electric ignition mechanism that would cause the gunpowder to burn instead of explode, the source said.
Deputy Interior Minister Perez said: “In this state, we do not know if other similar letters have been received in other countries.”
The Russian Embassy in Spain issued a statement Thursday, condemning “any terrorist threat or act” in relation to the five letter bombs sent to government offices, private companies and the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid.
“Any terrorist threat or act, particularly directed against a diplomatic mission, must be totally condemned,” the statement said.
The Spanish High Court has opened an investigation, according to a judicial source.
Ambassador Pohoreltsev told Ukrainian news site European Pravda that the suspicious package addressed to him was handed over to the Ukrainian embassy commander who took it out to open it.
“After opening the box and hearing a click that followed, he threw it away and then heard the explosion… Although he was not holding the box at the time of the explosion, the commander was injured in the hands and suffered a concussion,” Pohoreltsev said.
