Man arrested after throwing petrol bombs at Japanese ruling party headquarters

A man was arrested on Saturday after allegedly throwing several suspected petrol bombs at the headquarters of Japan's ruling party and crashing his car into a fence outside the prime minister's office, according to police.

No injuries were recorded in the incident, which comes just over a week before a general election in which new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba hopes to shore up his mandate, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

A Tokyo police spokeswoman said a 49-year-old man from Saitama, north of the Japanese capital, was "arrested on the spot on suspicion of obstructing public duties".

At around sunrise on Saturday, "he approached the headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party in a vehicle, got out and threw what appeared to be Molotov cocktails," the spokeswoman told AFP.

"He also drove into the road in front of the prime minister's office, crashing into a fence to prevent vehicles from entering, and then threw what appeared to be a smoke bomb towards police officers after getting out of the car," she added.

Public broadcaster NHK said the five or six Molotov cocktail-like objects hit a riot police vehicle, but the fire was soon extinguished and no one was injured.

Several plastic tanks usually used to carry liquids were found in the man's small white car, according to the Asahi Shimbun daily and other media outlets.

The prime minister's office is located about 15 minutes' walk from the LDP headquarters in central Tokyo.

News.Az