Blasts hit London again, 2 weeks after train bombs

By Gavin Haycock and Matthew Bigg, Reuters, Thu Jul 21, 2005 2:17 PM ET

Four small coordinated explosions hit London's bus and underground train network on Thursday, injuring one person, exactly 2 weeks after bombers killed more than 50 people in the British capital.
The attacks took place at around 1 p.m. (1200 GMT), briefly terrifying passengers fearing a repeat of the carnage of July 7.
But it soon became clear they had either failed altogether or lacked the lethal sophistication of the earlier bombs.
London police chief Ian Blair told reporters: "We know that we've had four explosions or attempts at explosions."
He said it was clear the devices had been intended to kill, but some appeared not to have gone off properly and only one person had been reported injured.

UK bombs meant as carbon-copy, may be same group
By Mark Trevelyan, Security Correspondent, Reuters, Thu Jul 21, 2005 1:50 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Four attempted bombings on London's transport system on Thursday look like an intended carbon-copy of attacks that killed 56 people two weeks ago and may be masterminded by the same group, security analysts said.
They put forward two main scenarios behind the latest blasts, which were much smaller than the previous ones, and did not cause any fatalities.
The first, more benign explanation, was that the attacks were carried out by "imitative amateurs" intent on mounting a copycat strike by targeting three underground trains and a bus in a cross-formation across the city.
The second, more worrying, was that the same group behind the suspected al Qaeda-linked attacks on July 7 had struck again, albeit with far less devastating effect.
Police refused to be drawn on which was more likely