NEW YORK/ LONDON: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would use his upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia to urge the leaders of Muslim countries to “fight hatred and extremism” while pursuing a peaceful future for their faith.
Speaking to the graduating class of the US Coast Guard Academy, Trump said he would seek new partners in the region because “we have to stop radical Islamic terrorism.”
Meanwhile, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) top brass has recommended that the military alliance join the international coalition fighting Daesh. The issue is top of the agenda at a NATO summit in Brussels next week, with Trump pushing the allies to take on a greater role in combating terrorism.
NATO Military Committee head Gen. Petr Pavel said that “there is a merit for NATO becoming a member of that coalition.” Pavel said armed forces chiefs agreed “that NATO can and should do more” to increase the capacity of Iraq and other countries fighting Daesh to better defend themselves.
“NATO members are all in the anti-Daesh coalition. The discussion now is — is NATO to become a member of that coalition,” Pavel said.
All 28 NATO member states are in the coalition as individual countries and the alliance has supplied AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) surveillance planes to help the coalition carry out operations but it has no combat role.
NATO’s role could include training local forces and helping to build militaries and institutions.
NATO countries do not want the alliance engaged in active combat against Daesh militants, even though all are individual members of the anti-Daesh coalition. Trump is scheduled to meet NATO leaders in Brussels next week.
Trump to urge Muslim leaders to fight extremism during Mideast trip
Trump to urge Muslim leaders to fight extremism during Mideast trip
Bomb attacks on Thailand petrol stations injure 4: army
- Authorities did not announce any arrests or say who may be behind the attacks
BANGKOK: Assailants detonated bombs at nearly a dozen petrol stations in Thailand’s south early Sunday, injuring four people, the army said, the latest attacks in the insurgency-hit region.
A low-level conflict since 2004 has killed thousands of people as rebels in the Muslim-majority region bordering Malaysia battle for greater autonomy.
Several bombs exploded within a 40-minute period after midnight on Sunday, igniting 11 petrol stations across Thailand’s southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala, an army statement said.
Authorities did not announce any arrests or say who may be behind the attacks.
“It happened almost at the same time. A group of an unknown number of men came and detonated bombs which damaged fuel pumps,” Narathiwat Governor Boonchauy Homyamyen told local media, adding that one police officer was injured in the province.
A firefighter and two petrol station employees were injured in Pattani province, the army said.
All four were admitted to hospitals, none with serious injuries, a Thai army spokesman told AFP.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters that security agencies believed the attacks were a “signal” timed with elections for local administrators taking place on Sunday, and “not aimed at insurgency.”
The army’s commander in the south, Narathip Phoynok, told reporters he ordered security measures raised to the “maximum level in all areas” including at road checkpoints and borders.
The nation’s deep south is culturally distinct from the rest of Buddhist-majority Thailand, which took control of the region more than a century ago.
The area is heavily policed by Thai security forces — the usual targets of insurgent attacks.
