MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile will apply antiterrorism law to Monday's bombing of metro station

“The government will invoke the antiterrorism statute to punish the guilty to the full extent of the law,” Cabinet minister Alvaro Elizalde

Monday's bombing at a Santiago metro station that left at least ten people wounded was a terrorist attack, the Chilean government said. This is the last and most serious of a string of bombs that have been found across Santiago most planted at night.

“This was undoubtedly a terrorist act that deserves our condemnation. The government will invoke the antiterrorism statute to punish the guilty to the full extent of the law,” Cabinet minister Alvaro Elizalde said upon arriving at the scene of the attack.

The explosion, which took place at a fast-food restaurant inside the Military School metro station, wounded ten people ranging in age from 20 to 65. Two people were badly hurt, according to paramedics.

The police bomb squad rushed to the scene to carry out investigations into the composition and characteristics of the explosive device.

“There is a great deployment of Carabineros militarized police trying to locate people who could be involved in the incident,” Col. Mario Rozas told the press.

The attack “deserves a strong response,” Interior Minister Rodrigo Peñailillo said, adding that “the government is coordinating all the necessary actions to discover the intellectual and material authors of this crime and bring them to justice.”

“Innocent people have been affected by this incident, which deserves the stiffest sentence, the most drastic penalty established by our legislation,” he said

At least 28 bombs have been found across Santiago so far this year — most planted late at night — though some have not exploded and none of the others caused any injuries. In many cases, anarchist groups have claimed responsibility, demanding freedom for two anarchists imprisoned in Spain. No one had claimed responsibility for Monday's attack.

Elizalde said the bombing “has all the characteristics if a terrorist act that has been carried out to cause harm to innocent persons,” and said the government would invoke an anti-terror enacted during the dictatorship of the 1973-90 dictatorship which allows lengthy periods of pre-trial detention, longer sentences, interception of communications and masked witnesses.