Chilean authorities say a homemade bomb has exploded at a bank in the capital, Santiago, damaging the building's facade but causing no injuries.
Officials say a fire extinguisher filled with explosive material detonated in front of a Banco Estado branch early Wednesday and that the force of the blast broke the bank's windows. It was not clear who planted the bomb at the bank in the Pudahuel section of western Santiago.
Also Wednesday, police evacuated a school in Santiago after receiving a bomb threat.
There has been a series of bomb threats in recent days in the lead-up to the so-called "Day of the Young Combatant" this Saturday, when leftists mark the anniversary of the deaths of two brothers killed during Augusto Pinochet's 1973 to 1990 dictatorship.
Last week, a self-proclaimed anarchist group claimed responsibility for setting off a bomb at a bank in Santiago's Providencia district. No injuries were reported.
On the same day, police carried out massive raids around the country, arresting more than 800 people as part of a government initiative to crack down on crime. Police also seized arms, ammunition and drugs in the raids.
Some information for this report provided by AP.
