Death Toll Rises in Coruscant Bombing
Desrini District, Coruscant — The official death toll from last week's bombing in the Desrini District on Coruscant has risen to 24, as another body was recovered from the rubble today, and an Imperial stormtrooper injured in the incident died of his wounds last night at the nearby Fobosi District Medical Center. 52 civilians injured in the incident remain in serious condition. Unofficially, however, the casualty count is believed to be much higher, since the Empire's official figures include only human deaths. As many as 200 non-humans may also have been killed in the incident, according to some estimates. A public statement from Sate Pestage, the Grand Vizier of the Empire, referred to the bombing, which occurred last week, as "a deliberate act of destruction by dissidents, Jedi, or possibly both." Lieutenant Garik Taynor, of the Coruscant Security Force (or CSF), told The Coruscant Journal that "there is no indication at this time who is responsible for this incident."
Security holocameras reveal, according to Lieutenant Taynor, that the bomb was smuggled to a crowded market in a delivery speeder. The pilot of the speeder was among those killed in the explosion, and although the delivery company has been shut down while its management and employees are interviewed by the CSF, "It doesn't appear," Taynor said, "that the company was knowingly involved in the bombing."
"We are reviewing security footage of the speeder and its movements in the hours prior to the bombing," Taynor said, "We're optimistic that this will yield us a promising lead." What is known at this time, according to a CSF press conference on Centaxday, is that reconstructed fragments of the bomb and the detonation device identify it as a weapon commonly manufactured for the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. "It is too early to tell," according to a CSF spokesbeing, "whether this suggests a connection with Separatist remnants."
The Empire, meanwhile, has expressed confidence that the perpetrator of the bombing will be identified. Rainier Brandt, the Moff of Coruscant, told The Coruscant Journal that "my government will spare no expense to find [the perpetrator]. By the sweat of our brows, justice will be done." Asked if he had any leads at this time, Brandt replied, "Not at this time, no."
No Separatist remnant or resistance group has claimed responsibility for the incident. The Mighty Monnok, a subversive broadcast believed to be affiliated with a number of anti-Imperial resistance movements, specifically condemned the bombing. "We resistors are warriors of conscience," a recent broadcast of The Mighty Monnok stated, "[we] do not condone this bombing or the murder of innocent men, women, and children." The broadcast went on to suggest that Imperial policies were "responsible" for the bombing.
"This senseless act of violence shows us the foe that we face," Sate Pestage's statement read, "The dissidents, the Separatists, and the Jedi fugitives would regard you, the people, and your children as mere bodies to be climbed over in their mad thirst for power... But we have bested this foe before, and we shall best it again." The Coruscant Journal will follow the investigation as it develops.
