Mail delivery suspended in rural areas after mailbox bombs discovered

Mail delivery has been suspended in parts of eastern Iowa today (Saturday) as state and federal Law Officers search for the people responsible for placing eight pipe bombs near rural mailboxes in eastern Iowa and western Illinois, injuring five people. Rich Watkins, a spokesman for the U-S Postal Service, says the devices were found in Scott, Cedar, Dubuque and Jones Counties in Iowa, and in three counties in Illinois. The devices were placed within a roughly 45 mile radius of Maquoketa, and authorities say the pipe bombs that were discovered and detonated by experts had a “rambling” note that had a definite “anti-government” tone. Watkins says they’re asking for the public’s help in finding who set out the devices, by reporting any suspicious activity immediately. He says the devices were not delivered by mail carriers. Watkins says mail delivery has been stopped today in the areas that were hit. Three postal carriers in Illinois were injured; a 69-year-old woman from Tipton was injured and is listed in stable condition; a letter carrier in Dubuque County was injured and is listed in stable condition; and an unidentified person in Anamosa received injuries to the hands and face.