Updated

The British government says military recruitment centers have increased their security measures regarding mail following seven failed letter bombings in England blamed on Irish Republican Army militants.

No group has claimed responsibility for this week's posting of seven envelopes containing gun powder, fuses and other potential bomb parts to recruitment offices in several towns outside London. British officials blame IRA militants, who are already linked to failed October letter-bomb attacks in Northern Ireland.

Two of this week's threats were mailed from the Republic of Ireland, the rest from within the U.K. Police say they were too crudely designed to have killed anyone.

Most IRA members renounced violence in 2005, but breakaway factions still seek to undermine Northern Ireland's peace settlement. They have not detonated any bombs in England since 2001.