Malaysia says border attack an isolated incident

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 12 (Reuters) A mysterious grenade attack on a Malaysian border post this week that wounded four soldiers was an isolated incident, the army said today, adding the border area was under control.

Two grenades exploded before dawn on Wednesday at the Ban Din Samoe post, which sits across the border from a Thai military post at the western end of their frontier.

''We regard this as an isolated incident where a certain group had tried to approach our post, probably to create chaos,'' army deputy chief Lieutenant-General Muhammad Ismail Jamaluddin told a news conference.

''I cannot categorise this incident as an attack on our post.'' A Malaysian newspaper, quoting military officials, earlier reported that Thai criminals may have been behind the attack, but the army said it did not know who had thrown the grenades.

''We are still conducting investigations to find out who were these people and what was their motive,'' Muhammad Ismail said.

He said Malaysian soldiers had fired shots and threw two grenades at the attackers who then disappeared in the dark.

A group of about seven people in balaclavas and carrying M-16 rifles were later spotted at a military helicopter landing point near the border post, and the soldiers again opened fire on them, he added.

Military intelligence sources told the New Straits Times the perpetrators were probably Thai criminals and said they had taunted Malaysian soldiers before hurling the explosives.

The incident follows security scares in Thailand, including bomb blasts in the capital Bangkok during New Year celebrations and continuing Islamist-linked unrest and violence at the eastern end of Thailand's border with Malaysia.

Reuters PDM DB1233

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