UK letter bombs aim to shock, not kill -police

LONDON, Feb 7 (Reuters) A series of seven letter bombs sent in Britain over the past three weeks contained pyrotechnic charges, not conventional explosives, and appear intended to shock not kill, police said today.

Six people were hurt today by a mail bomb at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in Swansea, south Wales, the third bomb in three days to hit companies or agencies with links to enforcing motoring laws.

Three other bombs in mid-January have been linked by police to animal rights campaigners, and another bomb hit a director of an undisclosed company at his home in the county of Kent on Saturday, police say.

''These devices do not contain conventional explosives, and although we are still awaiting the results of analysis, indications are that these devices are of a small pyrotechnic nature,'' said Anton Setchell, the Coordinator for Domestic Extremism of Britain's Association of Chief Police Officers.

''The intention clearly seems to be to cause shock and relatively minor injuries,'' he said. He added that police had received no claims of responsibility for the bombs.

REUTERS BDP HS2228