News – October 2023


  • Thailand: Coordinated attacks, bombings rock Narathiwat

    October 21, 2023

    Suspected insurgents launched a series of coordinated attacks in Tak Bai district of this southern border province in the early hours of Saturday, police said. An improvised explosive device (IED), assembled inside a fire extinguisher cylinder, was detonated outside a gold shop in tambon Chehe, causing damage to the front part of the shop, said Pol ...

  • IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine – Update 189

    October 20, 2023

    In the latest indications of military activities some distance away from the ZNPP, the experts have continued to hear explosions almost every day and they have also heard occasional machine gun fire. The IAEA has been informed that the power supply to Enerhodar was cut for more than two hours in the evening of 18 ...

  • EOD Mobile Unit Three Changes Command

    October 20, 2023

    CORONADO, Calif. – Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 3 welcomed its newest leader during a change-of-command ceremony at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, Calif., Oct. 20. Cmdr. Warren Fogler relieved Cmdr. Andrew Serfass in front of friends, family members, and EODMU-3 personnel as part of an outdoor ceremony at the unit’s headquarters. Serfass took command of ...

  • North Carolina: TSA opens new security checkpoint at Charlotte Douglas International Airport

    October 20, 2023

    Officials with Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) today previewed the new security checkpoint in the airport terminal. Checkpoint 1, which is located at the west end of the new terminal lobby, will feature eight lanes to screen departing travelers. “We are thrilled to begin conducting security screening operations in Checkpoint ...

  • Robot Range Enhancements Unveiled at the Fall DoD EODT&T Program Board Meeting

    October 19, 2023

    Indian Head, Maryland – Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division’s (NSWC IHD) Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technology Center (EODTECHCEN) hosted the fall EOD Technology and Technical (EODT&T) Program Board meeting, September 28. Members of the board, comprised of rear admirals, brigadier generals, major generals and other high-ranking officials from each of the four services were ...

  • California man detonates explosive-filled teddy bear in parking lot

    October 19, 2023

    A man in California was arrested after he was allegedly caught on surveillance video placing a fluffy teddy bear, filled with explosives, in a parking lot and detonating it. The San Bernardino Police Department said officers responded to a possible explosive device inside a teddy bear that was detonated in front of a business on Wednesday afternoon. Read ...

  • Sharing information critical to tackling chemical threats

    October 19, 2023

    BANGKOK, Thailand – In just six hours, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system was able to create tens of thousands of chemical compounds that could be used as chemical weapons, demonstrating the potential for nefarious actors to exploit new technologies for lethal purposes. Earlier this year, USB keys containing improvised explosive devices were delivered to several media ...

  • Northern Ireland: Police investigating potential sectarian hate crime after pipe bomb attack on Derry home

    October 19, 2023

    A woman in her 20s was inside the home in Heron Way when the device partially exploded at the backdoor at around 11.30pm. She wasn’t injured however damage was caused to the door. A number of nearby homes were evacuated for a time while police and ATO examined the scene. The device has now been ...

  • Drones target US troops in Iraq, causing minor injuries

    October 19, 2023

    The first attack early on Wednesday involved two one-way drones that targeted al-Asad base, two U.S. officials said. One of the drones was intercepted but still managed to explode, causing the minor injuries and damaging some equipment. Some U.S. troops were being evaluated for possible traumatic brain injury, one of the officials said. The second drone ...

  • Philippines: Misamis Occidental governor survives IED attack

    October 18, 2023

    Misamis Occidental Gov. Henry Oaminal and two of his security escorts were unhurt when an improvised explosive device went off in Barangay Lapasan in Clarin town before midnight on Sunday. Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief Maj. Gen. Steve Crespillo said Oaminal had just come from a meeting at a hotel and was on his way home ...

  • Uganda: Honeymooning couple among three dead

    October 18, 2023

    A couple on their honeymoon and their guide were killed in a “cowardly terrorist attack” at a national park in south-west Uganda, authorities say. Uganda’s police said the trio were killed, and their vehicle burned, in the Queen Elizabeth National Park. Police said joint forces were pursuing suspected members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel ...

  • Kenya names dozens of wanted terror suspects

    October 18, 2023

    The Kenyan government has released the names and photos of 35 terror suspects believed to be behind recent militant attacks in the coastal Lamu county. Among them are Tanzanians, Somalis, a German, a British national, a Bangladeshi citizen, with the majority being Kenyans. Read more… Source: Shabelle Media Network  

  • India: Army holds CBRN disaster management drill

    October 18, 2023

    Exercise Vajta Sahayata, a two-day chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) disaster management drill was conducted by the Vajra Corps under the aegis of Western Command Headquarters on October 16 and 17, along with the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) and Punjab Government. Initially, a table-top exercise was conducted, wherein the Army, representatives of 7 and ...

  • Germany: Firebomb attack on Berlin synagogue as tensions rise in Middle East

    October 18, 2023

    Berlin synagogue has been attacked with Molotov cocktails amid an increase in antisemitic incidents in the German capital following the escalating violence in the Middle East. The Kahal Adass Jisroel community said its synagogue in the Mitte area of the city was attacked with two incendiary devices. Read more… Source: MSN News  

  • Pakistan: Child killed, 8 injured in hand grenade explosion in Balochistan Wadh

    October 17, 2023

    A child lost his life while eight others were injured on Tuesday when a hand grenade exploded in the Zarchain area of Balochistan’s Wadh city, police said. According to Wadh Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Abdul Manaf, the children from a madressah were “playing with the hand grenade when it exploded”, resulting in the casualties. Read more… Source: ...

  • Belgium: Suspect shot dead by police after killing of Swedish football fans

    October 17, 2023

    The man suspected of killing two Swedish football fans and wounding another in a terrorist attack in Brussels on Monday night has died after being shot by police. Belgium’s interior minister, Annelies Verlinden, told the broadcaster VRT that an automatic weapon found on the “neutralised person” was the same as that used during the attack.Belgian authorities ...

  • Ugandan police foil ADF plot to bomb churches

    October 16, 2023

    Ugandan police have foiled a plot by Islamic State-linked militants to bomb churches in central Butambala district, President Yoweri Museveni has said. Two bombs were linked to public address systems and sent to pastors, disguised as gifts, Mr Museveni said. Members of the public became suspicious of the devices and told the police, he added on ...

  • Navy offering up to $100K in EOD officer retention bonuses

    October 16, 2023

    The Navy is offering big bucks to some explosive ordnance disposal officers — if they remain in the service for a few more years. Under a new policy, the Navy is now breaking up its incentives into two-year increments, while also offering larger amounts of cash to those who agree to four more years of service ...

  • UK: Second controlled explosion carried out in Union Canal after device found

    October 16, 2023

    A second controlled explosion has taken place in the Union Canal after a device was discovered. Police confirmed that an explosive item had been recovered from the waterway in Linlithgow on Sunday. The force said that explosive ordnance disposal officers attended the scene and carried out a controlled detonation of the unknown item. Read more… Source: STV News  

  • Philippines: Local bomb-maker killed in accidental IED blast in Maguindanao del Sur

    October 16, 2023

    A local terrorist was killed in an accidental explosion of an improvised bomb he was assembling in Barangay Malangog in Datu Unsay, Maguindanao del Sur on Saturday afternoon, the police and military reported. Initial reports on Monday identified the fatality as Tantrex Amerudin Eskak, also known in the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters as Tantung ...

  • Somali TV journalist killed in Mogadishu suicide bombing

    October 16, 2023

    A Somali television journalist was killed Monday evening in a suicide bombing at a restaurant in Mogadishu, police said. Abdifatah Moalim Nur Qeys, who worked for Somali Cable Television, was fatally injured in the explosion at Blue Sky restaurant near the national museum. “At around 21:00 a Khawarij suicide bomber detonated explosives on people who were ...

  • UK: Man admits possessing a pressure cooker bomb

    October 16, 2023

    A clinical support worker who is accused of planning terrorist attacks on a hospital and an RAF base has admitted possessing a pressure cooker bomb. Mohammed Farooq, 27, was arrested in the early hours of January 20 in the grounds of St James’s Hospital, in Leeds. He is due to go on trial later this week ...

  • Nigeria: Police arrest 3 kidnap suspects, recovers IEDs in Delta

    October 16, 2023

    The command spokesman, DSP Bright Edafe stated this while addressing newsmen on Monday in Warri. Edafe said that the suspects were arrested on Friday by police operatives attached to the Orerokpe Division in Okpe Local Government Area of the state. He said that the following items were recovered from them, four AK-47 rifles, one pump action, ...

  • Singapore: A look at SAF’s selection process, training for its bomb disposal experts

    October 16, 2023

    When the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) was alerted to a World War II aerial bomb last month, the experts sent to assess the situation had never been involved in such a disposal. But the team of first-timers, comprising regular servicemen from the SAF’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit, had been training for this day. They assessed ...