Hunt on to find London parcel bombs sender
Gardaí are conducting a high-level security operation to try and track down who sent explosive packages to major London transport hubs yesterday.
At least two of the three packages have Irish postal stamps on them and intelligence chiefs here suspect all three were sent from Ireland in a co-ordinated attack.
Only one of the packages, sent to Heathrow Airport staff building, ignited, but it was immediately extinguished. No one was injured.
A second package was sent to the staff building at London City Airport, and a third was posted to Waterloo railway station.
London Met said “small, improvised, explosive devices” were found in A4 postal bags.
The Met’s Counter Terrorism Command said it was treating it as a “linked series” of incidents.
The postal bags, images of which were circulated online, were handwritten in block capitals, with the exact address of the targeted buildings. The white bags had Dublin postmarks and stamps issued by An Post to mark St Valentine’s Day, saying “Love from Ireland”. Inside the bags were A4 Jiffy envelopes.
London police contacted the Garda Security & Intelligence Section at Garda HQ regarding the origin of the packages and a major security operation is underway.
A Garda spokesman told the Irish Examiner: “Gardaí are assisting the London Met with inquiries in relation to the ongoing security incident in London.”
While two of the packages, images of which were circulated online, contain a return address — with one appearing to say ‘Bus Eireann Dublin’ — detectives suspect these are generic addresses.
Officers contacted An Post yesterday to see if the postage stamps on the envelopes will enable them to narrow down the postal location.
“We are trying to track the packages. It could narrow it down to a sorting office or a post office,” said one security source.
That could lead to further inquiries, such as examination of any CCTV footage.
London Met said it was keeping an “open mind” as to the motive.
Security sources here said it was just speculation at this point as to who was responsible and advised against jumping to conclusions.
“It’s not an ordinary person, so it could be some oddball with a grievance, it could be paramilitaries, it could be Islamist extremists, it could be Brexit related, it’s impossible to know at this stage,” said one source.
“No doubt, it heightens tensions.”
Fingerprint and DNA examinations of the packages may yield clues, sources said.
The Garda Security and Intelligence Section, along with the Garda Special Detective Unit, will conduct inquiries as to possible suspects.“This is a very serious matter; incendiary devices posted from here to the capital of another country,” said one source.
Officials received a report of a suspicious package at The Compass Centre, a building near Heathrow boundary, before 10am.
A statement from Scotland Yard said: “The package was opened by staff at the building, causing the device to initiate. This resulted in part of the package burning.”
The building was evacuated and specialist officers attended the scene to make the device safe.
British Transport Police were called after reports of a suspicious package in the post room at Waterloo station at 11.40am. The package was not opened and specialist officers again made the device safe.
Police were also called to a report of a suspicious package at Aviation House at London City Airport shortly after 12 midday. The package was not opened, the building was evacuated and specialist officers made the device safe.
