Police investigate the scene following an overnight explosion at a Jewish school in the Buitenveldert district of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on Saturday. Photo by Michel Van Bergen/EPA
March 14 (UPI) — An explosion early Saturday at a Jewish school in Amsterdam was a “targeted attack” fueled by anti-Semitism, the city’s mayor said.
It was the second attack on Jewish institutions in the Netherlands in as many days.
A statement from Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said a suspect detonated an explosive device along the outer wall of a school in the neighborhood of Buitenveldert. She said there was limited damage to the facility and no injuries reported.
“This is a cowardly act of aggression towards the Jewish community,” she said. “I understand the fear and anger of Jewish Amsterdammers. They are increasingly confronted with anti-Semitism, and that is unacceptable.
“A school must be a place where children can receive lessons safely. Amsterdam must be a place where Jews can live safely.”
Halsema said police were investigating the explosion using camera images of the suspect who detonated the device.
The attack in Amsterdam came one day after an explosion and fire at a synagogue early Friday in Rotterdam. Police said the fire went out on its own and no one was injured.
A statement from the police department said officers later arrested four teenage men outside another synagogue in the city believing them t be involved in the earlier attack. The driver of the vehicle allegedly had been driving erratically and matched the description of one of the perpetrators at the first synagogue.
The arrested suspects were from Tilburg and aged between 17 and 19.