Amid slew of underworld assassinations, unknown assailants throw grenade at shop next to busy outdoor market.
By BEN HARTMAN
Five bystanders were lightly wounded by shrapnel on Tuesday when an unidentified motorcyclist threw a grenade at a currency change store in Petah Tikva.The blast happened at midday, a few dozen meters from the shuk, where hundreds of people were shopping. It shook surrounding businesses and left shattered glass and blood on the pavement outside the currency exchange establishment.The business belongs to a local target of Central District detectives, and police said the attack was the latest in a bloody business feud between rival change store owners in the city.Not long after the explosion, Central District head Asst.-Ch. Bruno Stein announced he had ordered increased police presence in Petah Tikva and had tasked the central investigative unit with determining who was behind the grenade attack.“This was a grave incident and a serious escalation on the part of criminals, which we have no doubt deals a serious blow to the sense of security of civilians,” Stein said.The attack was the latest in a series of bombings in the city recently. Early last Friday morning, a bomb exploded next to a car belonging to Deputy Mayor Uriel Boso (Shas), damaging the vehicle but injuring no one On February 3, two men were killed in a car bomb in the city, not far from the spot where on June 27, 2013, two men were gunned down in a drive-by shooting. On July 25, two men were killed by a car bomb at the Yarkonim junction, near Petah Tikva.All of those attacks remain unsolved.