More explosions rock Groningen province – The Northern Times

During the early hours of Wednesday morning, residents of Oude Pekela were shaken to the core. An explosion was set off on a building at the Feiko Clockstraat damaging a nail salon. 

A few hours later, a house on Wezelstraat in Winschoten was also the target of an explosion. Winschoten resident Fenna Suur who lives only 25 meters away from the site of the incident described what happened as “a huge explosion” in an interview with Radio Noord.

The police said that no one was injured and no arrests have been made from either of the explosions as reported by RTVNoord.

A worrying trend

These two attacks on Wednesday morning are unfortunately part of an alarming increase in explosions and enhanced violence around the Groningen province in recent weeks. 

The early hours of Tuesday morning saw a seemingly targeted explosion of a barbershop in Winschoten. The owner himself alleged that the explosion was the result of gang affiliations of the customers he serves and highlighted the increase in gang-affiliated violence.

The same street as the barbershop saw another explosion on Saturday and the Herestraat in Groningen, one of the liveliest shopping streets during the day, was also rocked by at least two explosions last week.

On Wednesday night, two people were injured in a shooting at Groningen’s Poelestraat in the town’s nightlife district. The area was quickly flooded with police and ambulances and the area was closed off to the public, according to RTV Noord. 

Although it is unclear if all these attacks are linked, the police announced a new special investigation team focusing on gang violence last Tuesday.