Two explosions near the Israeli embassies in Denmark and Sweden were likely “caused by hand grenades” and “gun fire”, police have said.

Danish officers said two hand grenades were likely to have caused the explosions outside Israel’s Copenhagen embassy on Tuesday.


Three Swedish men have been detained in relation to the incident.

Copenhagen Police Chief Superintendent Jens Jespersen said that two of the men were found on a train at Copenhagen’s main railway station and the third man was detained elsewhere in the Danish capital.

Police in Denmark and Sweden

Two explosions near the Israeli embassies in Denmark (right) and Sweden (left) were likely ’caused by hand grenades’ and ‘gun fire’, police have said

Reuters

He added that it was likely that hand grenades had caused some damage to a building around 100 metres from the embassy.

Jespersen said: “We can’t say for sure if the embassy has been or not been the target of these explosions … We are also investigating if they have acted alone, on request or together with others.”

Police were also called to reports of a explosion near Israel’s embassy in Sweden on Tuesday evening.

Officers in Stockholm are investigating suspected gunfire in the area.

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After a loud bang was heard police reportedly found a gun and an empty bullet casing.

It comes after a similar incident in January, where a Stockholm police bomb squad disarmed what investigators called a dangerous object outside the Israeli embassy building.

The Swedish incidents have caused no injuries or significant damage.

Authorities in Sweden said security police have stopped several planned attacks linked to Iranian security services using local criminal networks – a report that Iran has called “baseless”.

Danish officers outside Israeli embassy in Copenhagen

Danish officers said two hand grenades were likely to have caused the explosions outside Israel’s Copenhagen embassy on Tuesday

Reuters

The explosions in the European capitals follow intensified conflict in the Middle East earlier this week.

On Tuesday evening, Iran launched nearly 200 missiles towards Israel as civilians were told to hide in bomb shelters.

It came after Israel’s armed forces confirmed that they had launched a “ground operation” in the south of Lebanon.

Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, told a cabinet meeting on Tuesday that Iran’s missile attack “failed”, having been “thwarted thanks to Israel’s air defence array”.