Embassies Targeted in Series of Attacks
(UnitedVoice.com) – US embassies serve as Americans’ only link to their government while they are overseas. They are on US soil when they step into one of the offices. Nations take attacks against consulates very seriously. That’s what makes recent news about the targeting of an embassy so serious.
US Embassy Targeted
On December 1, a suspicious package showed up at the gate of the US Embassy in Madrid, Spain. Police blocked off a wide area around the building after officials received the package. Law enforcement then detonated the letter bomb in a controlled explosion.
NBC News reported the US State Department issued a statement confirming the delivery and adding that others in the country received similar packages via the mail. They said they would continue monitoring the “security situation and provide updates as appropriate.” Spanish police stated the package they detonated at the embassy “contained substances similar to those used in pyrotechnics.”
Other Locations Targeted
The day before the US embassy received the package, a similar one arrived at the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid. In that case, the bomb exploded and injured a security officer. The New York Post reported Mercedes Gonzalez, a Spanish official, said the bomb injured the Ukrainian’s ring finger but said it was a “very small wound.”
An arms company in the country that manufactures rocket launchers for Ukraine received another device. Ukraine’s military is using the weapons in its fight against the invading Russian troops. In recent months, Russian President Vladimir Putin has suffered a series of embarrassing losses. Still, it’s unclear whether the bombs are directly related to the ongoing conflict.
Past Embassy Attacks
Though relatively rare, the US has suffered a number of devastating attacks on embassies in the past. In 1998, al-Qaeda attacked a US Embassy in Kenya, Nairobi, and Dar es Salaam in Africa, killing more than 200 people, including 12 Americans. In 2006, a terrorist detonated a car bomb outside the US consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, killing a US diplomat. The most notable attack in recent years was in Benghazi, where assailants took the lives of four American personnel, including US Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens.
It’s unclear whether the most recent attack might signify more to come.
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