Five letter bombs detected in Spain, country steps up security

MADRID — Bomb disposal experts defused a fifth letter bomb on Thursday as Spain stepped up security to confront a spate of explosive devices sent to high-profile targets, including the prime minister and the Ukrainian ambassador in Madrid.

Early indications suggest that all five of the packages were sent from within Spain, the country’s Deputy Interior Minister told journalists.

Rafael Perez, the junior minister responsible for security, said the homemade devices were sent in brown packages containing a flammable powder and tripwire that would generate “sudden flames” rather than an explosion.

The packages were addressed to the heads of the institutions they were sent to.

Perez said one of the devices had detonated — injuring a security officer at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid, three others were detonated by the security forces in controlled explosions and one had been kept intact for investigative purposes. Reuters