Twin blasts rock largest city in Thai south

BANGKOK: At least six people were wounded in twin blasts in southern Thailand´s main commercial city of Hat Yai -- the gateway to the kingdom´s insurgency-stricken deep south, authorities said Tuesday.

The blasts rocked the city in the early afternoon with one detonating near a convenience store and the other exploding by apartments being built for local police.

Television footage showed thick billows of smoke near the apartments as firefighters battled a blaze sparked by the device which was hidden on a parked motorcycle.

"There were two bombs attacks, at least six people were injured -- none of them is in a serious condition," Grisda Boonrach, Songkhla provincial governor told.

Local police said the bombs were around 25 minutes apart and confirmed the casualties.

Although authorities were not immediately sure who carried out the blasts, suspicion will inevitably fall on insurgents from Thailand´s three Muslim-majority southern provinces which border Malaysia.

Hat Yai, the largest city in Thailand´s south which is popular with Malaysian and Singaporean tourists, was targeted in 2012 by a car bomb at a city hotel which sparked a blaze that killed three people, wounded hundreds and left parts of the city centre resembling a war zone.

Jang and Geo largest media group, won’t be banned, says Sana

 

TOKYO: Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Thursday said the issue of restrictions on Jang and Geo should end after Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s final and clear statement on it.
In a special talk with Jang ere, he said the Jang-Geo Group is the largest media group in Pakistan and it won’t be closed, adding, the government had no intention to ban any media group. He said the circumstances originating from the murder attempt on Hamid Mir were troublesome but the government stuck to its stand on the freedom of expression, as press was an important pillar of democracy.

He further said everyone was satisfied with the recovery of Hamid Mir and the Centre was assisting the provincial government in investigating the attack and arresting those responsible for it.

Rana Sanaullah remarked that the army and the media both were national institutions which had to resolve matters through mutual understanding, avoiding blame-game.He said Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif had formed an exemplary system for resolving the problems of overseas Pakistanis and its fruits would become visible in the near future.