Pretoria Bomb Blasts Injure 4

Two bombs exploded in downtown Pretoria today as the National Party marked 40 years in power. Hospital officials said four white women were injured.

The attacks in the South African administrative capital coincided with anniversary celebrations by President Pieter W. Botha’s party, responsible for the country’s apartheid legislation. The National Party has led the government since the whites-only election of May 26, 1948.

The four women, all librarians in their 30s, were returning from lunch when a bomb exploded in a flowerpot at a busy street corner.

One woman lost an arm, a second suffered back injuries and the other two had extensive facial burns, according to a statement from H. F. Verwoerd Hospital.

About five minutes earlier, a bomb placed under a parked car exploded several blocks away. The car was destroyed but there were no injuries.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

There have been more than 70 bomb blasts in South Africa since a nationwide state of emergency was declared in June, 1986, although the number of explosions has fallen sharply in the last year.

The police have blamed virtually all the blasts on the outlawed African National Congress, which wages a bombing and sabotage campaign in a bid to overthrow the white-led government. The ANC, based in Lusaka, Zambia, generally does not confirm or deny any role in the attacks.