Diplomat among four hurt in car blast in Delhi
New Delhi: In a coordinated terror attack, an Israeli embassy car exploded on Monday when a magnetic bomb stuck to it went off in a high security area here critically injuring a woman diplomat hours after a car bomb was defused near its mission in Georgian capital Tbilisi.
Tal Yehoshua(40), wife of Israeli Defence Attache, who is also working in the Embassy and an Indian driver of the vehicle, was among the four people injured in the blast. She is said to be critical and underwent a surgery with doctors saying she was stable.
The blast occured at 3.16 pm at a busy traffic intersection on Aurangazeb Road not far away from the mission and the Prime Minister’s Race Course residence after an unidentified motorcyclist stuck a magnetic device to the rear of the Toyota Innova vehicle.
The first major targeting of an Israeli official in the Capital came hours after police defused a bomb targeting an Israeli Embassy car in Tbilisi, capital of a former Soviet republic, coinciding with the fourth anniversary of Hezbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh.
Delhi Police Commissioner B K Gupta did not want to hazard a guess on whether it was a terror attack and maintained it was definitely a device targeting the Embassy Toyota Innova vehicle.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu straightaway blamed Iran and its Lebanese protege Hezbollah. Netanyahu also said Israel had thwarted similar attacks in recent months in Azerbaijan and Thailand.
Security near the Israeli Embassy and its consulate in Mumbai and missions of Western countries was tightened following the car bomb attack.
In the explosion and the fire that ravaged the car, the Indian driver Manoj Sharma(42) received injuries as did two others in an Indica car behind the vehicle. They were identified as Arun Sharma(61) and Manjit Singh(75).
External Affair Minister S M Krishna spoke to his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman, assuring him that the law of the land will take its course.
“Initial report suggests attachment of foreign substance in the rear of the vehicle. However, the exact cause of the explosion will be known only after further investigation by the Delhi Police,” Special Secretary in the Home Ministry Ajay Chadha told reporters. (PTI)