Europe


  • Belgium launches biggest criminal trial in its history after 2016 terror attacks

    December 5, 2022

    Six and a half years after terrorist attacks that left a legacy of death, injury and shock, Belgium is launching the biggest criminal trial in its history. Ten people will face charges relating to the murder of 32 people in March 2016, when bombs exploded at Brussels Airport and then on a metro train that was ...

  • Spain: Navy divers neutralise unexploded bomb a few kilometres off Aguilas

    December 4, 2022

    A member of a Calabardina (Murcia) diving club recently discovered a partially-buried bomb in the seabed not far from Aguilas. Alerted by the diver, the authorities notified the Guardia Civil’s Special Underwater Activities Group (GEAS) who confirmed the presence of an unexploded bomb. This in turn activated the Guardia Civil-Navy protocol for dealing with explosives. Early ...

  • UK: Major emergency services exercise tests response to terrorist attack

    December 3, 2022

    The Metropolitan Police, along with other emergency services and statutory partners, has carried out a major live-play exercise this week to test the joint response to a major terrorist incident. The multi-agency exercise – called Exercise Crystal Peak – took place over two days and involved more than 200 people including emergency responders from blue-light services, ...

  • Italy: Unexploded World War II bombs found in Milan

    December 3, 2022

    The EOD technicians from 10th Engineer Regiment of the Italian Army are planning to render safe three American 500-pound World War II bombs, which were found in the vicinity of Rubattino 95, Tangenziale Est – A51 in Milan. “The specialists will remove the trigger devices on the spot and then transport, with the help of the ...

  • Greece: Two bombs target Italy’s embassy cars in an Athens suburb, no injuries

    December 2, 2022

    Two explosive devices have targeted cars belonging to the Italian embassy in Greece, one of which went off causing no injuries, according to Greek police. There was no immediate claim of responsibility and officers said they were investigating. A homemade bomb exploded at about 4am (02:00 GMT) on Friday, damaging a vehicle parked at the home of ...

  • Spain: Man injured in explosion at Ukraine embassy in Madrid

    November 30, 2022

    An employee at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid has sustained minor injuries after opening what is thought to have been a homemade letter bomb, prompting Kyiv to warn its diplomats to bolster their security precautions. Oleh Nikolenko, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian foreign ministry, said the embassy in the Spanish capital had received an envelope as ...

  • Russian intelligence claims to have thwarted terrorist attack on South Stream pipeline

    November 24, 2022

    Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) reported Thursday that it successfully foiled a suspected terrorist attack on the South Stream pipeline, which transports natural gas from Russian territory to countries such as Bulgaria, Italy and Austria. Russian authorities said that several Russian nationals have been detained for their alleged involvement in the “sabotage plan”, according to the ...

  • Sweden: Traces of explosives found at site of Russian pipeline leaks

    November 18, 2022

    Sweden’s prosecutor’s office said Friday that an investigation into gas leaks from two underwater pipelines connecting Russia to Germany found traces of explosives, confirming it is a case of “serious sabotage.” Swedish and Danish investigators are probing a flurry of detonations on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines on Sept. 26 that sent gas spewing ...

  • Croatia: Carrier Strike Group Ten Participates in Humanitarian Mine Action in Split

    November 17, 2022

    SPLIT, Croatia – The Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team assigned to Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 10 took part in the eighth iteration of the Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) in Split, Croatia, Oct. 24 – Nov. 11, 2022. HMA is a Department of State-led initiative to increase partner nation capabilities in the areas of de-mining, stockpile management, ...

  • Italy: Four neo-Nazis arrested by anti-terror police

    November 15, 2022

    Four neo-Nazi militants were arrested by Italian anti-terror police in Naples and around Italy in an investigation by Naples prosecutors on Tuesday. The four belong to white supremacist, Holocaust denial and neo-Nazi groups, the police said. The four had already been searched last year, legal sources said. They belong to the subversive neo-Nazi group the Order of ...

  • EU Pledges Military Help for Niger

    November 11, 2022

    The EU official said Brussels had “drawn the lessons from our past experience in Mali in particular and that is why we don’t want to have a large-scale EU training mission for Niger”. The official said the mission would involve setting up a centre to help train Niger’s troops on “maintenance and logistics issues”. It will also ...

  • Ukraine accused of using controversial ‘butterfly’ mines against Russia

    November 11, 2022

    The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) recently accused the Ukrainian Armed Forces of planting PFM-1s, also known as butterfly mines, throughout residential areas of Russian-controlled Donbas. The Russian MFA also claimed that “the use of butterfly mines goes against the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time ...

  • Ukraine’s Shadowy Kamikaze Drone Boats Officially Break Cover

    November 11, 2022

    We have now gotten our best look yet at Ukraine’s tactical uncrewed surface vessels, or USVs, which were employed in an unprecedented attack on the Russian Navy’s base in Sevastopol on the occupied Crimean Peninsula last month, thanks to an official crowdfunding campaign. Ukrainian authorities say they hope to raise enough funds to buy 100 ...

  • Germany: 350 tons of highly explosive fireworks seized, arrests and searches in Germany and the Netherlands

    November 9, 2022

    Great success in the fight against illegal and highly dangerous fireworks. Under the coordination of the Central Criminal Inspection Osnabrück in close coordination with the Osnabrück public prosecutor’s office and the Dutch police, as well as with the support of Europol, it was possible to dismantle a criminal network dealing with the illegal trade in ...

  • Ukraine: State Duma deputy’s security car blows up on French HPD anti-tank mine in Kherson region

    November 8, 2022

    The security car of State Duma deputy Alexander Borodai was reportedly blown up by a mine in the Kherson region, as reported on Monday, November 7. According to military correspondent Chingis Dambiev via his Telegram channel, the State Duma deputy’s security car was blown up by a French HPD-2A2 anti-tank mine in the Kherson region of ...

  • Ukraine: National Police loses three bomb disposal experts within months of war

    November 8, 2022

    Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, three bomb disposal experts with the National Police of Ukraine have been killed and nine more were wounded while clearing the liberated territories of explosives. Ihor Klymenko, head of the National Police of Ukraine, on Facebook Nine bomb disposal experts with the police were also injured during mine clearing ...

  • France: Man drives to police with WWII shells in back of his car

    November 7, 2022

    Authorities in Normandy have appealed for residents to exercise extreme caution – and some common sense – if they come across World War Two explosives, after a man drove to his local police station with two shells on the back seat of his car. The man, from Saint-Quentin-sur-le-Homme (Manche), discovered the shells while doing agricultural work, ...

  • UK: Police and firefighters attacked with fireworks and petrol bombs

    November 6, 2022

    Police officers say they were attacked with fireworks, petrol bombs and a Molotov cocktail in a series of violent bonfire night incidents in Scotland. Two officers in Edinburgh were treated in hospital for head injuries after youths threw bricks at their vehicle. In another incident in the capital 100 youths threw fireworks at members of the public ...