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Thailand blasts injure man thought Iranian

BANGKOK, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Three blasts rocked a Bangkok neighborhood Tuesday, including one near a man police said they thought was an Iranian national who tossed a grenade at police.

Police said five people were wounded in the explosions in Bangkok's Sukhumvit neighborhood, including the Iranian national, who lost his legs in the incident, the Thai News Agency reported.

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Witnesses reported seeing three men flee a house after an explosion destroyed the dwelling's roof, The New York Times reported. Two escaped.

The third man emerged from the house appearing confused and tried to hail a taxi. When the taxi did not stop, he threw what could have been a grenade at the taxi, destroying the front part the vehicle, police said.

Police said the man then lobbed a grenade at officers as they approached him, the Times reported.

"It did not reach them. He couldn't throw it far enough," Col. Varavudh Thaweechaikarn, a police officer at the scene, said.

Police told the Times the injured man had Iranian identification and Iranian money on him.

The explosion damaged telephone booths, a police car and a pizza shop near where the man threw the device.

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The report said police searched the house and found C-4 explosive material.

Tuesday's explosions came the day after bombers attacked Israeli Embassy personnel in India and Georgia. Israel accused Iran of being behind the attacks, which Tehran denied.

The wife of an Israeli defense representative to New Delhi was among the injured when her car was destroyed by bomb. In Tbilisi, a bomb was discovered on a vehicle's undercarriage and defused by the police.

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