One injured in blast at Roma party office in Bulgaria

SOFIA - Agence France-Presse

People react outside the house of Roma leader Kiril Rashkov, dubbed "King Kiro", after it was set on fire during a clash between members of the Bulgarian and Roma communities in the village of Katunitsa, some 160 km south-east of Sofia on September 24, 2011. AFP photo

A man was injured when a package exploded on Friday outside the offices of the Roma party Evroroma in the central Bulgarian town of Sandanski, police said. The 59-year-old Roma man had picked up a parcel outside the building, in a usually busy area near the town's market, when it exploded, regional police chief Georgy Kostov said. The motives for the blast were not immediately known.

Bulgaria's Roma minority, plagued by unemployment, illiteracy and miserable living conditions, is often discriminated against and occasionally the target of attacks. Evroroma, founded in 1998, is the best known party representing the Roma community, which is estimated at 700,000-800,000 people or 10 percent of Bulgaria's population.