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Two suspected bombs have been found in the mail of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in the last 24 hours, the US Secret Service has announced.
One was found in a package sent to the home of Bill and Hillary Clinton late on Tuesday and was addressed to the former First Lady.
A second suspicious package addressed to the home of Mr Obama, the former US president, was intercepted by Secret Service personnel in Washington DC early this morning.
“The packages were immediately identified during routine mail screening procedures as potential explosive devices and were appropriately handled as such,” the Secret Service said.
Neither Mrs Clinton nor Mr Obama were at risk of receiving the packages, the agency said.
The Secret Service has launched a full criminal investigation to identify those responsible for sending the bombs.
Officials said the explosive device was found in post at the Clintons’ property in a New York suburb.
It was said to be similar to the device found at the home of billionaire philanthropist George Soros on Monday.
The device was detected during a routine search of the post at the Clintons’ home.
The FBI’s joint terrorism task force is heavily involved in the investigation.
In a statement, the US Secret Service said: “The US Secret Service has intercepted two suspicious packages addressed to Secret Service protectees.
“Late on October 23, 2018, the Secret Service recovered a single package addressed to Former First Lady Hillary Clinton in Westchester County, New York.
“Early this morning, October 24, 2018, a second package addressed to the residence of Former President Barack Obama was intercepted by Secret Service personnel in Washington, DC.
“The packages were immediately identified during routine mail screening procedures as potential explosive devices and were appropriately handled as such. The protectees did not receive the packages nor were they at risk of receiving them.
“The Secret Service has initiated a full scope criminal investigation that will leverage all available federal, state, and local resources to determine the source of the packages and identify those responsible.”
Source: The Telegraph UK