Madrid
CNN
—
Spain stated Thursday it was boosting safety measures after a sequence of letter bombs was found within the nation, together with one which was despatched to Spain’s prime minister final week and one other to the US embassy.
The sixth and newest bomb was detected Thursday afternoon and despatched to the US embassy in Madrid. It was intercepted at round 12.30 p.m. native time on the safety submit of the embassy, a police supply informed CNN.
The envelope was detonated in a managed surroundings, in accordance with two US officers. No one was injured within the course of, the officers stated.
“We are grateful to Spanish law enforcement for their assistance with this matter,” Jamie Martin, a spokeswoman for the US Embassy in Madrid, informed CNN.
Security was elevated on the embassy after suspicious packages have been despatched to different embassies Wednesday, a US official stated.
A US State Department spokesperson stated it “will continue to evaluate the security situation and provide updates as appropriate. The US Embassy in Madrid remains open for American Citizen Services. We thank Spanish law enforcement for their assistance.”
A earlier bomb, despatched to an air pressure base close to Madrid, was found earlier than daybreak Thursday, after one exploded on the Ukrainian embassy within the capital Wednesday and one other was deactivated at an arms producer.
A tool addressed to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrived within the submit at his official Moncloa compound on November 24 and his safety element singled it out as suspicious. After establishing a safety perimeter, they performed a “controlled explosion” of the envelope, an inside ministry assertion stated.
The bomb “would be similar, for its features and content” to these acquired on Wednesday on the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid and on the arms producer Instalaza in Zaragoza, and on Thursday at Spain’s Torrejon air pressure base close to Madrid, the assertion stated.
The most up-to-date letter bomb was intercepted simply earlier than daybreak Thursday after being despatched to the Torrejon air pressure base.
Spanish protection ministry officers stated a suspicious envelope was detected by a scanner on the base. The scan indicated the envelope may have “some type of mechanism” inside, an announcement stated. Police have been known as to the bottom to investigate the envelope, which was addressed to the Satellite Center on the air base.
The Spanish protection ministry additionally acquired a letter bomb addressed to Defense Minister Margarita Robles, the Secretary of State for Security Rafael Perez stated Thursday.
Perez stated the letters have been doubtless despatched from Spanish territory, and that in 4 out of the 5 instances, safety measures labored efficiently to neutralize the bombs.
People ought to stay “calm,” the minister stated, and there was no motive but to justify elevating a terror menace.
The newest developments adopted the invention of two letter bombs on Wednesday. The first exploded on the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid within the afternoon, injuring an worker, Spanish officers stated.
That envelope, addressed to the Ukrainian ambassador to Spain, exploded after being dealt with by a Ukrainian employee on the embassy, Spain’s international ministry stated in an announcement. Later, within the night, police deactivated a letter bomb at a weapons producer in northern Spain, a senior Spanish official stated.
The envelope despatched to the arms maker had the identical return tackle as the envelope that exploded on the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid, stated the official, Rosa Serrano, in an interview with Spain’s radio station SER late Wednesday.
“The return address on the envelope is an email that is the same” on each envelopes, stated Serrano, who’s the highest Spanish authorities official within the Aragon area the place the second letter bomb arrived.
The envelope on the weapons maker within the metropolis of Zaragoza, in Aragon, “apparently came from Ukraine,” Serrano stated, including that authorities suspect the one on the embassy might have additionally come from Ukraine.
An government on the arms producer was apparently conscious of the Madrid explosion, so when an envelope arrived quickly after that nobody appeared to acknowledge, the corporate known as police, Serrano stated.
The bomb squad arrived and police decided there have been explosives contained in the envelope, designed to blow up on opening. It was deactivated, Serrano stated.
Serrano didn’t determine the agency, however Spanish media reported its identify and stated it manufactured rocket launchers that Spain has despatched to Ukraine as it battles Russia’s invasion. CNN couldn’t instantly affirm that element.
“I know the firm has been an arms manufacturer a long time, with state-of-the-art facilities,” Serrano stated within the radio interview.
Police notified Spain’s National Court, which investigates terrorism, about every of the letter bombs, the assertion stated.
The inside ministry has ordered elevated safety measures in any respect embassies and consulates in Spain, as effectively as different websites that require particular safety. Security had already been boosted after the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
