Israeli embassy in Stockholm targeted in bomb attempt
The Israeli Embassy in Stockholm was the target of a bomb attempt on Wednesday, according to the Israeli ambassador, after a bomb squad destroyed a device that police believe was "likely detonated," according to HotNews.
"Today, we were the victims of an attempted attack on the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm and its employees," Israeli Ambassador to Sweden Ziv Nevo Kulman wrote on a social media network. "We will not be intimidated. We will not be intimidated by terror," he added.
For its part, the Stockholm police said it was alerted "at 1:08 p.m. by the embassy, which found an object that it considered dangerous."
A perimeter around the object was established and "the device was destroyed by the national bomb squad, and we believe it was activated," police officer Daniel Wikdahl told AFP.
Swedish tabloids Expressen and Aftonbladet reported that it was a hand grenade, citing unidentified sources, while Aftonbladet said it was thrown over the fence surrounding the mission and landed on the ground near the building.
The criminal police have been dispatched to the scene to search for any traces and to retrieve surveillance footage from the area, the Stockholm police said.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson described the situation as "very serious." "An attempted attack on an embassy is an attack on both those who work there and on Sweden," the official said.
At the end of October, the Swedish government pledged $1 million to strengthen the security of Jewish institutions and congregations, following the rise in antisemitism in the wake of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
