BREAKING NEWS!!! Explosion Rocks IMF Building in France
BREAKING NEWS!!! Explosion Rocks IMF
Building in France
FILE PHOTO
DEVELOPING – A letter bomb exploded at the
International Monetary Fund office in Paris early
Thursday, lightly injuring one person, police said.
Speaking to reporters, Paris police chief Michel
Cadot said the device was sent by post and the
small explosion was probably cause by a
homemade device. He said there had been
telephone threats made to the IMF, but it’s not
clear whether they were linked to Thursday’s
incident.
It is unclear who sent the homemade explosive,
which was like a “big firecracker” and sent by
regular mail, Cadot said.
French media reported that the person who
opened a letter addressed to a senior IMF
official that contained an explosive substance.
The secretary who opened the letter was injured
by shrapnel in the face and hurt in the eardrum
because of a “rather violent noise,” the police
chief said.
On Twitter, the police department said the
secretary was taken to the hospital for
treatment.
Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF,
condemned the explosion, saying it was a
“cowardly act of violence.”
“I condemn this cowardly act of violence and
reaffirm the IMF’s resolve to continue our work
in line with our mandate,” she said.
Staff from the IMF office were evacuated and
armed military officers and police guarded the
area, in a chic district of western Paris. The
World Bank office in France is in the same
compound.
Police searched all four floors of the building,
Cadot said. No one else was injured and only
light damages were incurred.
France has been on high alert after a string of
deadly Islamic extremist attacks over the past
two years.
The most recent attack happened last month
when a machete-wielding assailant shouting
“Allahu Akbar!” was shot by soldiers stationed
outside the Louvre Museum. The attacked, who
was shot four times after injuring a soldier, was
identified as Egyptian-born Abdullah Reda Refaie
al-Hamahmy, 28.
The incident on Thursday comes a day after the
German finance ministry in Berlin also
intercepted a parcel bomb sent to Finance
Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Wednesday. The
package contained low-grade explosives, like
those used in firecrackers.
Mailroom employees at the ministry quickly
identified the package as suspicious and called
in explosives experts, who destroyed it with a
controlled explosion.
“The package contained an explosive mix,” Berlin
Police said in a statement. “It was designed to
cause severe injuries when the package is
opened.”
A Greek far left group called the Conspiracy of
Fire Cells said on its website that it had sent the
device.
Building in France
FILE PHOTO
DEVELOPING – A letter bomb exploded at the
International Monetary Fund office in Paris early
Thursday, lightly injuring one person, police said.
Speaking to reporters, Paris police chief Michel
Cadot said the device was sent by post and the
small explosion was probably cause by a
homemade device. He said there had been
telephone threats made to the IMF, but it’s not
clear whether they were linked to Thursday’s
incident.
It is unclear who sent the homemade explosive,
which was like a “big firecracker” and sent by
regular mail, Cadot said.
French media reported that the person who
opened a letter addressed to a senior IMF
official that contained an explosive substance.
The secretary who opened the letter was injured
by shrapnel in the face and hurt in the eardrum
because of a “rather violent noise,” the police
chief said.
On Twitter, the police department said the
secretary was taken to the hospital for
treatment.
Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF,
condemned the explosion, saying it was a
“cowardly act of violence.”
“I condemn this cowardly act of violence and
reaffirm the IMF’s resolve to continue our work
in line with our mandate,” she said.
Staff from the IMF office were evacuated and
armed military officers and police guarded the
area, in a chic district of western Paris. The
World Bank office in France is in the same
compound.
Police searched all four floors of the building,
Cadot said. No one else was injured and only
light damages were incurred.
France has been on high alert after a string of
deadly Islamic extremist attacks over the past
two years.
The most recent attack happened last month
when a machete-wielding assailant shouting
“Allahu Akbar!” was shot by soldiers stationed
outside the Louvre Museum. The attacked, who
was shot four times after injuring a soldier, was
identified as Egyptian-born Abdullah Reda Refaie
al-Hamahmy, 28.
The incident on Thursday comes a day after the
German finance ministry in Berlin also
intercepted a parcel bomb sent to Finance
Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Wednesday. The
package contained low-grade explosives, like
those used in firecrackers.
Mailroom employees at the ministry quickly
identified the package as suspicious and called
in explosives experts, who destroyed it with a
controlled explosion.
“The package contained an explosive mix,” Berlin
Police said in a statement. “It was designed to
cause severe injuries when the package is
opened.”
A Greek far left group called the Conspiracy of
Fire Cells said on its website that it had sent the
device.