Paris police say a letter bomb exploded at the French office of the International Monetary Fund, lightly injuring one person, according to Paris police.
Staff from the IMF office were evacuated from the building and armed military officers and police guarded the area, which is in a chic district of western Paris. The World Bank office in France is in the same compound.
A police official said no other damage was been reported in the incident in western Paris on Thursday. It is unclear who sent the letter. Police experts are at the scene, said the official, who was not authorized to be publicly named.
A soldier directs the traffic after a letter bomb exploded at the French office of the International Monetary Fund Thursday. (Thibault Camus/Associated Press)
IMF chief Christine Lagarde condemned the explosion.
“I condemn this cowardly act of violence and reaffirm the IMF’s resolve to continue our work in line with our mandate. We are working closely with the French authorities to investigate this incident and ensure the safety of our staff,” she said.
Thursday’s incident came a day after a package arrived at the German Finance Ministry containing low-grade explosives, like those used in firecrackers.
Mailroom employees at the ministry quickly identified the package as suspicious and called in explosives experts, who destroyed it with a controlled explosion.
The IMF office in France did not immediately respond to calls.
France remains in a state of emergency after a string of deadly Islamic extremist attacks over the past two years.
