Last update - 00:00 20/08/2007
Driver lightly wounded in suspected car-bombing in Acre
By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent
An Acre resident was lightly wounded Monday after his car exploded while he was driving through central Acre.
The victim and five passersby suffering from shock were taken by paramedics to a Nahariya hospital.
Police suspect there may be a criminal background to the incident and are attempting to determine whether the explosives were affixed to the car by suspects seeking to harm the driver, or if the driver himself was transporting the explosives knowingly when they detonated.
The explosive device in the car was relatively large and the blast managed to split the car in two, sending shrapnel dozens of meters in all directions.
Police stated that if the bomb had detonated while the car was passing one of the many pedestrian walkways in the city, there would have been many casualties.
Police are investigating the incident and are wary of further attacks, especially if the incident turns out to be criminally-related and associates of the wounded man take steps to seek revenge.