News – January 2023


  • Northern Ireland: 60% of bombings and 41% of shootings occurred in Derry/Strabane

    January 10, 2023

    The local policing district accounted for 41 per cent of all security-related shootings and 60 per cent of all bombing incidents in the 12 month period from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022. “Of the 29 shooting incidents in the last 12 months, the highest number occurred in Derry City and Strabane (12). Belfast experienced ...

  • Syria: SDF uncovers large weapons cache in Hasakah province

    January 9, 2023

    The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Monday announced they uncovered a large weapons cache in the village of al-Qirawan, Tal Hamis in the Hasakah province. It consisted of large numbers of explosive belts, improvised explosive device (IED), timed bombs, AK-74 rifles, ammunition, and explosive materials (C-4). Read more… Source: Kurdistan24  

  • UK: Dog walker finds ‘nail bomb’ in Hull park as experts carry out explosion

    January 9, 2023

    A dog walker has spoken of his shock after he found an unexploded ‘nail bomb’ near a children’s play area in a Hull park. Joe Smith, who lives on Rosmead Street nearby, was astounded when he found what he described as a ‘nail bomb’ in Rosmead Street Park at 7.30pm on Saturday, 7 January. He came ...

  • Mozambique: Terrorists threaten more attacks

    January 9, 2023

    A video distributed by the self-styled “Islamic State” terrorist group, in which Mozambican jihadists swear loyalty to their dead leader, Abu Al-Hussein Al-Qurashi, promises further attacks in the northern province of Cabo Delgado in the coming days. According to a report in Monday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Carta de Mocambique” the video lasts for two ...

  • Bangladesh: Police find IED-making equipment in a raid on abandoned Sunamganj house

    January 9, 2023

    Police in Sunamganj have found equipment to make improvised explosive devices or IEDs while raiding an abandoned house in the district’s Jagannathpur Upazila. According to the district’s Assistant Superintendent of Police Shubashish Dhar, a police team coincidentally discovered a cache of equipment while carrying out a raid in the house acting on a tip-off. “Some local people ...

  • Germany: Man arrested on suspicion of procuring cyanide and ricin for ‘Islamist-motivated’ attack

    January 8, 2023

    A man has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of procuring the deadly poisons cyanide and ricin to be used in an “Islamist-motivated” attack, authorities have said. The 32-year-old, an Iranian citizen, was arrested in the city of Castrop-Rauxel, in western Germany, on Sunday. “The suspect is suspected of having prepared a serious act of violence endangering ...

  • Jammu and Kashmir: Rajouri Terror Attack Death Count Climbs To 7

    January 8, 2023

    The death count in the terrorist attack on Dhangri village of Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri has risen to seven with one more civilian succumbing to injuries at a hospital here on Sunday, officials said. Prince Sharma, who was in his early 20s, died at the Government Medical College (GMC) Hospital Jammu, where he was shifted for ...

  • Myanmar: On the frontline with the rebel army fighting brutal junta

    January 8, 2023

    With a loaded cartridge holder strapped to her back and a shotgun gripped tightly in her hands, Rose Lalhmanhaih looks far older than her 17 years. Just two years ago, she was studying at school; now she is a rebel soldier on the frontlineof Myanmar’s revolutionary war. Only her nails, flecked with a bright purple ...

  • Iraq reopens Baghdad’s Green Zone to ease traffic jams

    January 8, 2023

    Iraqi authorities reopened Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone on Sunday in an attempt to ease traffic jams in the capital after it was closed and reopened several times in recent years. Starting in the early hours of the day, Iraqi authorities removed checkpoints and opened major roads and tunnels that cut through the zone on the ...

  • Somalia for 1st time claims Al Shabab extremists seek talks

    January 7, 2023

    Somalia’s government claimed on Saturday that the Al Shabab extremist group has for the first time asked to open negotiations, amid a military offensive the government has described as “total war.” There was no immediate statement by Al Shabab, an Al Qaida-affiliate that for well over a decade has carried out high-profile bombings in Somalia’s capital ...

  • Northern Ireland: Randalstown bomb attack, man appears in court charged with causing explosion

    January 7, 2023

    A man who police allege went on the run after a bomb attack in Northern Ireland more than 30 years ago has appeared in court charged with causing the explosion. Eamonn Christopher O’Boyle, 53, faces two charges in connection with the blast that badly damaged a garage in Randalstown, Co Antrim, in November 1990. The builder and ...

  • UK: Gornal residents heard ‘controlled explosions’ during police search at woodland

    January 6, 2023

    Residents living near an area of woodland where a blue police tent has been set up said they had heard a “few controlled explosions”. However, they added they were still none the wiser about what was going on as officers work at the scene for the third day. The woodland around Old Quarry Drive in Upper Gornal ...

  • Thailand: Demining officer killed, another injured in blast near Thai-Cambodian border

    January 6, 2023

    A member of the Thailand Mine Action Centre (TMAC) was killed and another injured in a landmine explosion, as they led a team of forest rangers on a patrol in Phnom Dong Rek Wildlife Sanctuary near the Thai-Cambodian border yesterday (Thursday). According to Chaiwat Limlikhitaksorn, director of the 9th Conservation Area Management Office in the north-eastern ...

  • Australia contributes significantly to Cambodia’s demining

    January 6, 2023

    Australia is one of the longest-standing supporters of mine clearance action in Cambodia, contributing essentially to Cambodian government’s goal to reach mine-free status by 2025. The appreciation was voiced by Ly Thuch, Senior Minister and First Vice President of the Cambodian Min Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) in a farewell meeting here early this week ...

  • Pakistan: One hurt in Khuzdar IED explosion

    January 6, 2023

    A person was seriously injured after an improvised explosive device (IED) planted in a motorcycle exploded here on Thursday. The motorcycle was parked at the Quetta-Karachi National Highway on the outskirts of Khuzdar. According to police, some unknown miscreants had planted the IED in the motorcycle and parked it on the main highway on the outskirts of ...

  • Massachusetts: Old explosive device found in Wilbraham basement and detonated

    January 5, 2023

    Wilbraham and Ludlow residents were disrupted by the sound of a loud explosion on Wednesday evening after police safely detonated an old explosive device one resident found in their basement, according to a Wilbraham Police Department spokesperson. On Wednesday, Wilbraham police received a report from a resident who found what appeared to be an “old explosive ...

  • Thornhill landmine clearing charity receives Scottish Government backing for Ukraine work

    January 5, 2023

    A Thornhill-based landmine clearing charity has been given Scottish Government funding to continue its work in Ukraine. The Halo Trust is working in the war-torn country to remove explosives left behind by Russia’s invasion and has been handed £300,000 from Holyrood. The money will go towards helping educate local residents and farmers on how to farm safely. Read ...

  • Sweden: Explosion leads to fire at downtown Stockton market; residents evacuated

    January 5, 2023

    A downtown Stockton market was scorched in a Molotov cocktail attack and a subsequent explosion Wednesday night, forcing 35 residents out of their apartments, which are right above the store, authorities said. Two separate arson incidents were reported at the Grab and Go Market near the corner of Acacia and El Dorado Streets Wednesday night, police ...

  • Norway donates additional artillery ammunition to Ukraine

    January 5, 2023

    The artillery shells can be used in several types of artillery, including the M109 Norway donated last year. – It is critical for Europe’s and Norway’s security that Ukraine succeeds in repelling Russia’s unfounded attack. To do this, Ukraine needs international support of military equipment and training. Norway has made substantial contributions throughout 2022, and will ...

  • Highly specialized U.S. Army units hone skills together at Defense Nuclear Weapons School

    January 5, 2023

    KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. – Units from the U.S. military’s premier all hazards command trained together during a radiological course at the Defense Nuclear Weapons School on Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. Soldiers from the 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command’s 1st Area Medical Laboratory and Nuclear Disablement Teams both participated in ...

  • Nigeria: DSS arrests ISWAP commander behind Kogi bomb blast, Kuje prison attack

    January 5, 2023

    The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested an Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) member over the blast near the Palace of Ohinoyi of Ebiraland in Okene, Kogi State. The Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) attack occurred on 29th December during the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to commission some projects. A statement on Wednesday by ...

  • DR Congo: MONUSCO holds training for police officers in Beni on handling IEDs

    January 5, 2023

    The threat is real.” Police officials in Beni acknowledge that the city is still under threat from improvised explosive devices. In 2021, on the evening of the Christmas celebration, a device exploded in a pub in the city of Beni, killing six and injuring a dozen. A year later, during this festive period, MONUSCO police (UNPOL) organized ...

  • Somalia: Death toll from car bomb blasts in Hiraan region rises to 35

    January 4, 2023

    Al-Shabaab militants detonated two car bombs killing at least 35 people and leveling several houses in central Somalia’s Hiraan region on Wednesday, a government-allied militia and a local elder said. The death toll from a twin car bomb attack in central Somalia’s Hiraan region has risen to 35, up from an earlier toll of at least ...

  • DR Congo: Lost grenade kills two children in South Kivu province

    January 4, 2023

    Two children have died and six people been wounded in eastern DR Congo after a grenade they discovered during a bird-hunt exploded, local officials said on Tuesday. A group of youngsters had been hunting for birds Monday in a field near Ndunda, on the Ruzizi plain in South Kivu province, when they stumbled across the grenade. “These ...