Leftists Blamed in Bombing Attack

Police in Tokyo blamed leftist guerrillas after a bomb exploded under the car of a mid-level Transportation Ministry official. The blast damaged the car and broke windows in the home of the Japanese official, Katsuhiro Yamaguchi, 41, but no one was injured. Police say fragments of a detonator and wires found at the scene match those found in eight other guerrilla attacks against Transportation Ministry officials since 1997. Although no one has taken responsibility for the latest attack, a leftist group called Chukakuha claimed the earlier ones. Chukakuha reportedly is opposed to the existence and expansion of Tokyo’s Narita airport on the grounds that land was forcibly taken from farmers.