A letter bomb exploded at Britain’s vehicle-licensing agency on Wednesday, injuring six people, in a spate of attacks targeting motoring-related organisations.
Police said seven devices had been sent through the mail in the last three weeks, including three bombs in the last three days. At least seven people have been injured.
The series of letter bombs contained pyrotechnic charges, not conventional explosives, and appear intended to shock not kill, police said on Wednesday.
Anton Setchell, the coordinator for domestic extremism of Britain’s Association of Chief Police Officers, said police had received no claims of responsibility for the series of seven bombs over the last three weeks.
Wednesday’s blast at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in Swansea, south Wales, raised media speculation that an angry motorist had launched a campaign of letter bombs.
One woman was treated for minor burns and two other women suffered hearing injuries, police said, adding that it was too early to say if there was a link to any other attack.
Attacks on Monday and Tuesday this week hit offices linked to companies involved in speed cameras and traffic fees.
”I am appealing today [Wednesday] for companies, organisations and individuals to take extra care when handling mail,” Assistant Chief Constable Anton Setchell said in a statement.
Kent police disclosed on Wednesday that a 53-year-old man was injured when a letter exploded at his home in Folkestone, south-east England, on Saturday.
Home Secretary John Reid said the explosions were worrying. ”It is important that we allow police to get on with their investigation without undue speculation,” he said in a statement.
Groundswell of anger
A letter bomb exploded at a business centre in Berkshire, southern England, on Tuesday at the office of Vantis, a business services firm, injuring two men.
Newspapers reported that the letter was addressed to ”Speed Check Services”, which supplies speed cameras to the police, but was sent instead to its accountants.
On Monday, a woman was injured in a letter bomb explosion at the London headquarters of Capita, the firm managing London’s congestion charge. The company collects 25-million payments a year from motorists who pay to drive into central London.
Safe Speed, a pressure group which campaigns against the widespread use of speed cameras, condemned the attacks.
”While we don’t agree with current road safety policy, that’s no excuse for sending letter bombs. It’s a behaviour we would roundly condemn,” the group’s founder, Paul Smith, said. — Reuters