Bulgaria: Burgas bombing was planned abroad

Interior ministry official says that bomb was probably assembled in the country, AFP reports.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
CCTV capture of suspected bomber 390 (photo credit: REUTERS)
CCTV capture of suspected bomber 390
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Burgas terror attack that killed seven people including the bomber in July was planned abroad, but the bomb itself was probably assembled in country, according to a Bulgarian official, AFP reported Saturday.
"I can definitely say that the attack was plotted, prepared and implemented by people who are very far away from Bulgaria," Ministry Chief of Staff Kalin Georgiev told Bulgaria's 24 Hours newspaper, according to AFP.
"We also cannot talk about so-called homegrown terrorism. The people who prepared the attack did not use local criminal infrastructures for logistic support," he said, adding, "They come, act and leave."
However, Georgiev said, the device was likely assembled nearby. "There is nothing specific about its make. Our experts estimate that it was assembled somewhere close as no one would risk carrying an activated improvised explosive device (IED)," he said.
In late July, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov revealed details regarding the activities of the terrorists who perpetrated the bombing, the Bulgarian Sofia News Agency reported.
"They came about a month before that, they changed leased vehicles, they moved in different cities so as not to be seen together, and no two of them can be seen in one place on any security camera," Borisov told Sofia News Agency, adding that the people behind the horrific blast had been "exceptionally skilled."
"The services worked perfectly but the manner in which the attack was carried out indicates it could not have been prevented," he emphasized, according to the report.
Bulgaria's prime minister indicated that even if the terrorists had not attacked the Israeli tourists at Burgas Airport, they still could have followed the tourists' bus to their hotel and detonated a bomb there.
"We are very vulnerable. You can enter Bulgaria from any place as a tourist, an expert, or a guest in the mixed-population areas, but our services do not have multi-billon budgets," he declared, said the report.
According to Sofia, Borisov still highlighted that the investigation was moving forward and he contended that Bulgarian services were on par with other nations services which investigated the September 11 attacks and the Madrid train bombings.