The IRA claimed responsibility for four letter bombs found in London and Glasgow Tuesday, telling police there is a fifth explosive that has yet to be found.
The four devices arrived at three buildings in London and the University of Glasgow on March 5 and 6, CNN reported. Police issued a statement saying the devices resembled those used by “dissident groups associated with Northern-Ireland related terrorism,” and that police opened a line of inquiry into that possibility.
The IRA first claimed responsibility by contacting a local news station in Northern Ireland on Monday, with police confirming that the caller used a code word common in the IRA, according to CNN. The mail bombs also sported Irish stamps and postmarks, according to The Irish Times.
“This was a reckless and cowardly attack on the entire community. I condemn in the strongest possible terms the people who carried out this act,” Irish Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan said. “We must work together to reject those isolated groups who would discard the accomplishments of the peace process for all communities on these islands for their own narrow objectives. Their futile agenda will not succeed.”
The individual who claimed responsibility specified that three devices had been sent to commercial targets and the remaining two were sent to British army recruitment centers, according to The Telegraph. One of those devices remains unaccounted for.
Authorities in the U.K. have contacted businesses with instructions on how to address any explosive devices they receive.