Chile arrests three carrying explosives

Santiago: Chilean police said they arrested three men Friday in the northern city of Antofagasta carrying dynamite and bomb ingredients, after a series of recent homemade bomb attacks rattled the country.

"They had an ignition system prepared using a slow fuse and a detonator, an explosives system, a charge prepared with dynamite divided into two parts, a detonation cord... and a box of shrapnel," the police communications office said.

Police stopped the men`s car after it ran a red light and discovered the materials inside, it added.

The arrests came after a homemade bomb exploded Monday in the crowded Escuela Militar (Military School) subway station in Santiago, wounding 14 people.

The unclaimed attack was the most destructive of some 200 unsolved bombings that have targeted banks, gyms, embassies and restaurants in the South American country over the past five years.

Interior Minister Rodrigo Penailillo said the arrested men would be charged under Chile`s anti-terrorism law.

"They had prepared shrapnel to be used against people," he said.

Police commander Hermes Soto said the dynamite confiscated Friday was "much more powerful than what was used in the explosion at the Military School station."