#bomb attacks

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Suspected Muslim Insurgents Unleash Seven Coordinated Bombing Attacks in Thailand's Southern Provinces

BANGKOK – Thailand’s Military Installed Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha decried “opportunists” on Saturday after a wave of coordinated bomb attacks by suspected insurgents hit Thailand’s Muslim-majority “deep south” in the lead-up to the New Year holidays.

The region bordering Malaysia has been in the grip of a low-level but bloody insurgency for more than a decade as ethnic Malay militants battle the Buddhist-majority state for greater autonomy.

Since 2004, insurgents armed with homemade bombs and grenades have clashed with Thailand’s powerful military, killing nearly 7,000 people, mostly civilians, of both Muslim and Buddhist faith.

However, 2017 saw a record low of 235 people killed in clashes.

The latest attacks occurred Friday night in a series of seven separate incidents in three different districts of Narathiwat province, said police commander Major General Dussadee Choosungkit.

Thai police inspect a hole in the wall following a bomb attack at a civilian volunteer base by suspected separatists the night before, in the Rangae district in the southern province of Narathiwat on December 29, 2018. – Photo Madaree Tohlala

–Two bomb attacks occurred in Sri Sakhon district, four in Chanae district, and militants “ambushed a base in Rangae district” using grenades, he said.

The homemade bombs were “detonated by radio”, he said, adding that no one was injured.

The attacks prolong a bout of violence that began late Monday evening when a policeman died in an explosion from a detonated roadside bomb hidden in a gas cylinder.

In nearby Songkhla province on Wednesday night, two bombs rocked popular tourist site Simila beach, causing no fatalities but damaging to two seaside statues.

Songkhla provincial police are still investigating the beach bombings, and no arrest has been made, police told AFP Saturday.

Major General Dussadee said the Songkhla bombings were not connected to his province’s troubles — which he said is payback for a December 12 raid on the insurgents’ camp in Narathiwat.

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“I think the militants are retaliating at authorities after the raid on their camp earlier this month,” he told AFP.

Junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha has instructed officials to step up security measures after the attacks, said government spokesman Buddhipongse Punakanta Saturday.

“(Prayut) called them the works of ill-intentioned people and opportunists for staging attacks during New Year holidays,” said Buddhipongse, adding that the junta head asked for locals to “tip off” authorities on any irregularities.

The three southernmost provinces — Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani — are predominantly Muslim and have long chafed against Bangkok’s rule, calling for greater autonomy or independence.

The latest attacks come as the Thai junta renews talks with an umbrella group claiming to represent the rebels, with the aid of Malaysia as facilitator.

The shadowy Barisan Revolusi Nasional faction is believed to be behind most of the violence in the region, with its leadership living along Malaysia’s border.

PARIS | France recalls horror of 2015 attacks, foils new plots

PARIS — France’s interior minister says French security services have foiled six terror attacks this year, as the country marks three years since gun and bomb attacks in Paris killed 130 people.

Christophe Castaner said the most recent thwarted plot involved far-right extremists detained last week on suspicion of targeting President Emmanuel Macron.

The minister said that three years after…

WASHINGTON | Wave of pipe bombs targets Democrats, CNN in terror-by-mail

WASHINGTON — A wave of pipe-bomb attacks by mail targeted Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama, other prominent Democrats and CNN but was thwarted without physical harm in an anxiety-filled day that deepened political tensions and fears two weeks before national midterm elections.

None of the bombs detonated Wednesday as law enforcement took them away for examination and disposal.

The…

3 suspects charged in connection with mosque bombing, attempted bombing of women’s facility

Federal prosecutors recently announced that four rural Illinois men were arrested and charged with possession of a machine gun. While that charge connects the four, three of the men were already of interest to the public.  Michael B. Hari, 47, Joe Morris, 22, and Michael McWhorter, 29, were each arrested and charged in connection with a Minnesota mosque bomb attack designed to inspire fear in…

” Minut de silenci per condemnar l’atemptat a Sant Petersburg ” by Premsa SantCugat, used under CC BY NC Tilt-shift from original