Mail Bomb Sent To US Embassy In Madrid Amid Spate Of Mystery Attacks

A day after Spanish authorities scrambled to evacuate and seal off the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid over a letter bomb from an unknown sender which injured a Ukrainian employee, the US Embassy in the capital city has also confirmed it received a “similar” package.

“The United States’ embassy in Madrid has received a letter similar to the five letter-bombs sent to the Ukrainian embassy to Spain and other targets in the country, according to La Sexta TV station,” Al Jazeera reports Thursday. At sixth letter bomb was reported later in the day. An official US Embassy statement said, “We can confirm a suspicious package was received at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid.”

Spain’s Deputy Interior Minister Rafael Perez briefed reporters, saying that while a culprit has yet to be identified, all the letter bombs are believed to have been sent from within the country. Letter bombs were also mailed to three government offices as well as Spanish arms maker, he told reporters.

Spain has said it is greatly increasing security measures at government offices and outside of embassies and foreign consulates around the country amid the ongoing threat. The prime minister’s office had been sent a letter bomb last week, which was intercepted.

According to details in CNN of the sixth uncovered letter bomb: 

The sixth and latest bomb was detected Thursday afternoon and sent to the US embassy in Madrid. It was intercepted at around 12.30 p.m. local time at the security post of the embassy, a police source told CNN. A special protocol was activated for these cases, the source added.

“We are grateful to Spanish law enforcement for their assistance with this matter,” Jamie Martin, a spokeswoman for the US Embassy in Madrid, told CNN.

With security already on a heightened state of alert over suspicious packages, the letter bomb did not denotate, with the one sent to a Spanish weapon manufacturer described as having been defused by a bomb squad.

Letter bombs of mysterious origin sent to six targets in Spain, including PM’s office and US embassy.

“We can confirm a suspicious package was received at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid,” @USembassyMadrid says. https://t.co/n4EXuOuDOK

— Chico Harlan (@chicoharlan) December 1, 2022

There have been no further reported explosions or injuries following the initial Ukrainian embassy blast on Wednesday. According to further details on the package addressed to the US Embassy: 

The bomb “would be similar, for its features and content” to those received on Wednesday at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid and at the arms manufacturer Instalaza in Zaragoza, and on Thursday at Spain’s Torrejon air force base near Madrid, the statement said.

The most recent letter bomb was intercepted just before dawn Thursday after being sent to the Torrejon air force base.

Spain’s defense ministry is reportedly utilizing specialized scanners in an attempt to identify potential threats coming in the mail particularly at sensitive government facilities and military bases.