Pentagon Says Bulgaria Attack Bears 'Hallmarks of Hizbullah'
The Pentagon said Friday there are signs that Hizbullah may have orchestrated a suicide bombing attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria this week.
"The attack does bear some of the hallmarks of Hizbullah but we're not in a position to make any final determination on who was responsible," Pentagon press secretary George Little told reporters.
"The Bulgarians are investigating," he said.
The bomb that ripped through a bus Wednesday at Burgas airport on the Black Sea killed five Israeli tourists and injured more than 30, in the deadliest attack on Israelis abroad since 2004.
Israeli officials have publicly accused Iran and Hizbullah of carrying out the attack, though observers say it is unlikely to take military action against either Iran or Lebanon in response.
U.S. President Barack Obama has condemned the bombing as a "barbaric terrorist attack" and the White House said he spoke to Bulgaria's prime minister, offering U.S. assistance in the investigation.
"We are working to assess the facts and, with our partners, to discover who was responsible," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Florida.
But Carney said he could not confirm if Hizbullah was behind the attack.
The New York Times on Thursday cited two U.S. officials as saying that Hizbullah was behind the attack.
It cited a third official as saying that the bomber was "acting under broad guidance" from Hizbullah its main sponsor Iran to strike Israeli targets of opportunity.
The attack came on the anniversary of an attack on a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1994 that killed 85 people and wounded 300. That attack was also blamed on Iran, which denied the charge.
Iran said Thursday it condemns "all terrorist acts in the world" and dismissed Israeli allegations of responsibility for the Bulgaria bombing.
Source: Agence France Presse, Associated Press
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