Bulgaria: Attack on Israeli tourist bus likely by suicide bomber with Michigan license
Destroyed buses are seen at Burgas airport, outside the Black Sea city of Burgas, Bulgaria, some 250 miles east of the capital, Sofia, July 18, 2012. / AP/Bulphoto
(CBS/AP) SOFIA, Bulgaria - Bulgaria's interior minister says a bombing that killed eight people and injured dozens on a bus full of Israeli tourists was most likely a suicide attack. He says the suspected attacker was carrying a driver's license issued in Michigan, which had been sent to the FBI.
Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said Thursday the suspect appeared on security camera tape near the bus for nearly an hour before the attack.
Tsvetanov said the death toll had risen to eight, as the Bulgarian driver of the bus died in the hospital. Six of the victims are Israeli citizens, while the nationality of the suicide bomber remains unknown.
Other reports said the ID found on the suspect's remains was a U.S. passport issued in Michigan, which was determined to be a fake. That report could not be confirmed.
A Bulgarian government plane will fly some 100 Israelis who were not wounded and wanted to cut short their vacation back to Israel.
Israel vows to strike back at Iran
Video: Israel blames Iran for Bulgaria bus blast
Israel blames Iran in deadly Bulgaria bus blast
The bombing was the latest in a series of attacks attributed to Iran that have targeted Israelis and Jews overseas and threatened to escalate a shadow war between the two arch-enemies. Iran has denied involvement in the past but did not comment on Wednesday's attack.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion immediately fell upon Iran and its Lebanese proxy, the Hezbollah guerrilla group.
"All signs point to Iran," Netanyahu said. "Just in the past few months, we have seen attempts by Iran to harm Israelis in Thailand, India, Georgia, Kenya, Cyprus and more. This is an Iranian terror attack that is spreading across the world. Israel will react forcefully to Iran's terror."
The Israeli leader gave no evidence to back his charges.
President Obama termed it a "barbaric terrorist attack" and called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pledge U.S. help in finding the perpetrators.
The blast gutted the bus at the airport in the quiet Black Sea resort city of Burgas, some 250 miles east of the capital, Sofia, where the Israelis had just arrived on a charter flight from Tel Aviv carrying 154 people, including eight children.
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point in the assassination war that has been going on between Israel and Iran.
In the last two years, Israeli agents in motorcycles attached magnetic bombs to the sides of the cars of Iranian nuclear scientists in Tehran, and then the motorcycles sped away before the bombs exploded and killed them. At that time, Israeli politicians were mum about, but all smiles, and savoring their success- probably giving themselves "high fives" behind closed doors! They were so elated that they forgot an edict on the Holy Bible: "If you kill, thou shall be killed." That Bible edict has proved its prophetic power for 2.000 years, and it would certainly prove itself again - as long as human hatred overflows the human logic.
Well. The Israelis are not smiling now, because the Iranian revenge has arrived via Bulgaria. Instead, they are threatening more murders of Iranians - to get even! And the "get even" vows don't come with an expiration date by either of the antagonists because unrestrained hatred is still boiling in the Middle East! Nikos Retsos, retired professor, USA
The real question is "Why Bulgaria this time?"
Sounds like another false flag incident.
It would be interesting to know how the bomber obtained the information that that particular bus would be carrying Israelis, for, as the article states, "nearly an hour before the attack..."
It is also interesting that the bomber has links to the US, and not some hard-line Muslim country.
It is a known fact that the Israelis will forge passports and other documents to make their operatives appear to come from other countries.
I'm getting the distinct feeling that Israel and the CIA set this one up.
Do you really think that Israel is behind this attack? How distorted your mind must be!