"Bulgaria attack bears hallmark of Hezbollah"
SOURCE: TANJUG
TEL AVIV, SOFIA -- A suicide bombing in the Bulgarian town of Burgas bears hallmarks of Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants, a Pentagon spokesman said on Friday.
The U.S. Defense Department has not yet concluded who was behind the attack that killed Israeli tourists.
“The attack on a bus carrying Israelis at a Bulgarian airport does bear the hallmarks of Hezbollah," Pentagon press secretary George Little told reporters.
He added that Pentagon “is not in a position to draw a final conclusion”.
However, U.S. intelligence sources, quoted by AP, claim that “there is a high level of certainty” that Hezbollah was behind the attack.
Bulgaria's Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said earlier in the day that the attacker, who killed himself and six others, was a foreign national. Sofia was investigating with the help of foreign intelligence services, he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Little turned aside a request to characterize the signs of a Hezbollah attack or how it could be distinguished from one by, for instance, al Qaeda, which is not linked to Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Hezbollah militants of carrying out the bombing Wednesday at Burgas airport, a popular gateway for tourists visiting Bulgaria's Black Sea coast. Iran has denied any involvement, Reuters pointed out.
He added that Pentagon “is not in a position to draw a final conclusion”.
However, U.S. intelligence sources, quoted by AP, claim that “there is a high level of certainty” that Hezbollah was behind the attack.
Bulgaria's Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said earlier in the day that the attacker, who killed himself and six others, was a foreign national. Sofia was investigating with the help of foreign intelligence services, he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Little turned aside a request to characterize the signs of a Hezbollah attack or how it could be distinguished from one by, for instance, al Qaeda, which is not linked to Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Hezbollah militants of carrying out the bombing Wednesday at Burgas airport, a popular gateway for tourists visiting Bulgaria's Black Sea coast. Iran has denied any involvement, Reuters pointed out.
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