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Explosion hits Netherlands’ largest political party’s headquarters, police say

By Thomson Reuters May 7, 2026 | 4:01 PM

AMSTERDAM, May 7 (Reuters) – An explosion damaged the headquarters of the largest party in the ​Dutch parliament, D66, on Thursday ‌evening, local police said, adding there were no injuries.

Police said a suspect had been arrested following the explosion, ‌which ​happened at the ⁠party office in the ⁠centre of The Hague shortly after 9 p.m. local time (1900 GMT).

Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, who ​is also the leader of D66, said a bomb ⁠made of fireworks ⁠had been thrown through the ​letterbox in the frontdoor of the ​building in what he described ‌as “a cowardly act of intimidation.”

The centrist, pro-EU D66 party last year won the election in the ⁠Netherlands in a surprise victory over the far right Freedom Party led by ⁠nationalist Geert ‌Wilders.

Its head office was ⁠also damaged during an ​anti-immigration ‌protest last year, when ​protesters smashed ⁠the windows of the party seen by many on the far right as serving a progressive elite.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by ​Alistair Bell)