Danish police detain three people after blasts near Israel Embassy

Police in Denmark said on Wednesday that they are investigating two explosions likely caused by hand grenades near Israel’s Embassy in Copenhagen, Reuters has reported. Officers said that they had detained three young Swedes for questioning.

Two of the men were apprehended on a train at Copenhagen’s main railway station, while the third man was detained elsewhere in the Danish capital shortly after the blasts, Copenhagen Police Chief Superintendent Jens Jespersen told reporters. Two hand grenades were likely to have caused the explosions which caused some damage to a building around 100 metres from the embassy, he added.

“We can’t say for sure if the embassy was or was not the target of these explosions… We are also investigating if they acted alone, on request or together with others,” said Jespersen. He declined to say how the three, aged between 15 and 20 years old, were linked to the incident but said that police expected to file preliminary charges against two of them for possession of illegal weapons.

This year at least ten Swedes have been charged in Denmark with attempted murder or weapons possession, stirring alarm and harsh criticism in the country over the spread of organised crime.

The Copenhagen explosions happened at around 3:20 am local time (0120 GMT), the Israeli Embassy said. “We are shocked by what has happened. No one was injured, and no one was present at the embassy when the explosions occurred,” explained a spokesperson.

The Danish security and intelligence service was assisting police with the investigation and assessing the already high security level around locations linked to the Jewish community in Denmark, the service said in a written comment.

The blasts occurred against a backdrop of soaring tensions in the Middle East as Iran attacked Israel with missiles following Israel’s bomb and other strikes in Lebanon. Israel claims that it is targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, and promised to retaliate, stoking fears of a wider war.

Carolineskolen, a Jewish school near the Israel Embassy in the Danish capital, stayed closed on Wednesday due to its proximity to the crime scene, the Jewish Community in Denmark told Reuters.

There have also been several security incidents recently near Israel’s Embassy in neighbouring Sweden, where police on Tuesday said they were investigating suspected gunfire in the area. In January, a Stockholm police bomb squad disarmed what investigators called a dangerous object outside the embassy building.

The incidents in Sweden caused no injuries or significant damage. The Swedish authorities have said that security police averted several planned attacks linked to Iranian security services using local criminal networks. Iran has described the Swedish claim as “baseless”.

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