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| Southeast Asia |
| Thai electric grid targeted |
| 2010-04-16 |
| [Straits Times] A BOMB attack on three electricity towers nearly plunged a suburb of the Thai capital into darkness last weekend, officials said on Thursday, as the country reels from violent civil unrest. Plastic explosives planted at the base of the towers damaged four legs and nearly toppled power lines in Ayutthaya province, 50 kilometres north of Bangkok, provincial police commander Jaruvat Vaisaya said. 'Seven bombs were found at three electricty towers. Four bombs exploded and the other three malfunctioned,' he told AFP. Had all the explosives detonated, power would have been cut to the northern Bangkok suburb of Rangsit, Ayutthaya governor Wittaya Phewpong said. 'Whoever planted them wanted to cause huge damage,' he said. Police were investigating whether the blasts were connected to Saturday clashes in Bangkok between anti-government 'Red Shirt' protesters and security forces, which killed at least 23 people and injured more than 800. 'We need to find more evidence before I can say that it is linked to the incident on Saturday or not,' Jaruvat said. 'What I can say for sure is that the people who did this were professional.' A series of smaller explosions aimed at politically significant sites and army buildings have occurred in Bangkok since 'Red Shirt' demonstrations began in the city last month, but no one has claimed responsibility for the blasts. |
| Posted by:Fred |