Small Bomb Set Off In Commercial Area

A small bomb exploded in a bustling section of west London on Saturday, slightly injuring three people, police said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The explosive went off near a Barclays Bank cash machine in an alley off Ealing Broadway, a busy shopping street in a suburban district six miles from the city center. Police said the bomb appeared homemade.

Suspicion first fell on the Irish Republican Army, but there was also a possibility the bomb was the work of a shadowy extortion group that has targeted Barclays, its employees and its customers with 25 explosives in the past 16 months. Only one person has been injured by the bombs, which have been accompanied by demands for money.