Burgas Terrorist Proven to Be Suicide Bomber - Report

The probe has decisively proven that the alleged perpetrator of the terrorist act in Bulgaria's Burgas was a suicide bomber.

The declaration, contradicting a number of reports and leads that that the perpetrator has been deluded, used as a mule, and has acted under the influence of illegal drugs, was made Sunday by investigator, Georgi Iliev, from the National Investigative Services.

The July 18 terrorist attack in Bulgaria's Burgas, also known as the Burgas Bus Bombing, killed 5 Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver at the Sarafovo Airport. The initial lead, purported by Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, was that it has been executed by a suicide bomber, who arrived from abroad.

According to observers and terror experts, this lead is looking less and less reliable and the most sustainable hypothesis is that the perpetrator has been used as a mule.

Israeli media largely back the above, writing that the young man with light complexion and blue eyes had been blown remotely, while standing between two coaches with Israeli tourists. He had been unaware that he was going to die and had the task to put the explosive on one of the buses. The bomb was placed in his backpack.

Speaking Sunday for the Bulgarian National Radio, BNR, Iliev informed that the Bulgarian authorities have sent to Israel their questions to some witnesses of the blast, who could not offer viable testimony right after the incident because they have been sedated and/or on other medications.

After being questioned by the authorities in Israel, the testimony of the survivors will be sent back to Bulgaria to be attached to the case.

"This has been a suicide bomber, a man who knowingly sacrificed his own live in order to cause the death of many others. He is a foreign citizen who has chosen Bulgaria for this act," the investigator adamantly stated.

When asked why weeks after the bombing the public still does not know the identity of the man and who is behind the attack, Iliev noted that there are many examples across the globe showing it could take years to solve such cases over the hurdles before the investigation.

Remains of the man recovered from the scene of the fatal attack were used to create an image showing his possible appearance as part of an appeal for public assistance in identifying him.

At the request of Bulgarian police, INTERPOL issued a Black Notice – used to seek information about unidentified corpses – to each of its 190 member countries in all four official languages (Arabic, English, French and Spanish) and is now also publishing this reconstructed image to engage the public's help in identifying the man.