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Spain announced on Thursday that it would tighten security measures after a series of letter bombs were found in the country, one of which was sent to the Spanish prime minister last week.
The latest bomb sent to an airbase near Madrid was found before dawn on Thursday, after a blast at the Ukrainian embassy in the capital Madrid on Wednesday and another foiled by a weapons manufacturer.
The device, sent to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, arrived by courier at his official compound in Monclova on November 24 and was deemed suspicious by his bodyguards. After establishing a safety margin, they conducted a “controlled explosion” at the cover, according to a Home Ministry press release.
According to a press release, the bombs were “similar in character and content” to those that blew up the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid and the arms company Instalza in Zaragoza on Wednesday, and Spain’s Torrejon airbase near Madrid on Thursday. gave base on
The latest mail bomb was intercepted before Thursday morning after being delivered to Torrejon Air Base.
Spanish Defense Ministry officials said scanners at the base detected the suspicious envelopes. A statement said the scans showed there could be “some sort of mechanism” inside the envelope. Police were called to the base to analyze the core, which was sent to the airport’s satellite center.
Spain’s Defense Ministry has barely even received letters addressed to Defense Minister Margarita Robles, Secretary of State for Security Rafael Perez said Thursday.
According to a statement from the Spanish Interior Ministry, authorities confirmed that five letter bombs were sent to different offices, including one to Sanchez.
Perez said the letters were allegedly sent from Spanish territory and security measures had cleared the bombs in four of the five.
The minister said people should “remain calm” and there was still no reason to maintain the threat of terrorism.
First goal
The latest incident came when two letter bombs were recovered on Wednesday. Spanish officials said the first blast took place at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid at noon, injuring one worker.
The Spanish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the envelope sent to the Ukrainian ambassador to Spain exploded after being handled by a Ukrainian official at the embassy. Later that evening, police in northern Spain defused letter bombs they believed were weapons, a senior Spanish official said.
Envelopes sent to arms companies had the same return address as the one leaked from the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid, official Rosa Serrano said in an interview with Spanish radio station SER on Wednesday.
“The return address on the envelope is the same email on both envelopes,” said Serrano, a senior Spanish official from the Aragon region, the source of the second letter bomb.
He appears to be a Ukrainian in disguise, coming from an arms company in the Aragonese city of Zaragoza,” Serrano said, adding that authorities suspect a man at the embassy may also be Ukrainian.
An arms company executive apparently knew about the explosion in Madrid, so when an envelope arrived shortly after someone recognized it, the company called the police, Serrano said.
Explosive Ordnance Disposal arrived and police determined the envelope contained explosives designed to detonate when opened. Serrano said he was gone.
Serrano did not identify the company, but Spanish media reported its name as saying it made rocket launchers sent by Spain to Ukraine to counter a Russian attack. CNN could not immediately confirm the details.
Serrano said in a radio interview, “I know this company is a long-standing arms company and has very good facilities.
Police notified Spain’s national court, which investigates terrorism, of each bomb letter, the statement said.
The Interior Ministry has ordered increased security measures at all embassies and consulates in Spain, as well as other locations that require special protection. Security has been tightened after the Russian attack on Ukraine.
