Madrid
CNN
—
Spain mentioned Thursday it was boosting safety measures after a collection of letter bombs was found within the nation, together with one which was despatched to Spain’s prime minister final week.
The newest bomb, despatched to an air drive base close to Madrid, was found earlier than daybreak Thursday, after one exploded on the Ukrainian embassy within the capital Madrid Wednesday and one other was deactivated at an arms producer.
The machine addressed to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrived within the publish 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 mentioned.
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 drive base close to Madrid, the assertion mentioned.
The most up-to-date letter bomb was intercepted simply earlier than daybreak Thursday after being despatched to the Torrejon air drive base.
Spanish protection ministry officers mentioned a suspicious envelope was detected by a scanner on the base. The scan indicated the envelope might have “some type of mechanism” inside, a press release mentioned. Police have been referred to as to the bottom to investigate the envelope, which was addressed to the Satellite Center on the air base.
The Spanish defence ministry additionally acquired a letter bomb addressed to Defense Minister Margarita Robles, the Secretary of State for Security Rafael Perez mentioned Thursday.
Authorities have confirmed 5 letter bombs have been despatched to varied places of work for the reason that one addressed to Sanchez, in keeping with a press release launched by Spain’s inside ministry.
Perez mentioned the letters have been seemingly despatched from Spanish territory, and that in 4 out of the 5 circumstances, safety measures labored efficiently to neutralize the bombs.
People ought to stay “calm,” the minister mentioned, and there was no motive but to justify elevating a terror risk.
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 mentioned.
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 mentioned in a press release. Later, within the night, police deactivated a letter bomb at a weapons producer in northern Spain, a senior Spanish official mentioned.
The envelope despatched to the arms maker had the identical return deal with because the envelope that exploded on the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid, mentioned 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, mentioned 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 mentioned, including that authorities suspect the one on the embassy could have additionally come from Ukraine.
An govt 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 referred to as police, Serrano mentioned.
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 mentioned.
Serrano didn’t establish the agency, however Spanish media reported its title and mentioned it manufactured rocket launchers that Spain has despatched to Ukraine because it battles Russia’s invasion. CNN couldn’t instantly verify that element.
“I know the firm has been an arms manufacturer a long time, with state-of-the-art facilities,” Serrano mentioned within the radio interview.
Police notified Spain’s National Court, which investigates terrorism, about every of the letter bombs, the assertion mentioned.
The inside ministry has ordered elevated safety measures in any respect embassies and consulates in Spain, in addition to different websites that require particular safety. Security had already been boosted after the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.