Corsican Separatists Claim Responsibility For Three Recent Attacks

Reuter, 30 December 1996

Ajaccio, Corsica (Reuter—December 30, 1996) Corsican separatists claimed Monday to have stepped up their campaign for independence by launching three attacks in the past ten days—none of which caused any casualties—the Reuters news agency reported from the French-administered island.

The Corsican National Liberation Front (FLNC) Historic Wing said it was responsible for machine-gunning the facade of a barracks for paramilitary gendarmes in Figari on December 20, and a for grenade thrown at the gendarmes' office in Zicavo last week.

In a statement to local media that police said was genuine, the FLNC also claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on the Cardoso public works company in Porto-Vecchio last week.

The FLNC has accelerated a two-decade-old guerrilla campaign for greater autonomy for the island since the detention on December 16 of Francois Santoni, head of the Conculta Naziunalista, the FLNC's legal wing.

Santoni is suspected of attempted extortion and arms violations.

Militants Lay Claim To Explosions In Corsica

Bastia, Corsica (AP—December 28, 1996) A bomb exploded near a dance club Saturday, the fifth in a series of weekend bombings on the French Mediterranean island.

A Corsican militant group seeking greater autonomy from France claimed responsibility for three of the earlier explosions, police said.

The bomb exploded in a residential district of the seaside town of Ajaccio early Saturday evening, police said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for that bombing.

State radio France Info said the bomb heavily damaged a residential building, destroying 17 empty apartments. Police had reported the bomb did not cause much damage.

There were no serious injuries, French Info said.

It exploded a few hours after the Front for the National Liberation of Corsica-Historic Wing claimed responsibility for three of the bombings the previous night.

The four explosions on the northern end of the French Mediterranean island caused no injuries—as most of the recent almost-nightly attacks.

The Front, one of the most violent factions seeking greater autonomy for Corsica, has claimed responsibility for many bombings in recent weeks. The attacks usually target government offices but do not cause injury.

Several Corsican militant groups have been fighting a 21-year campaign of bombings and other attacks to press for greater autonomy from France's central government.

No One Hurt As Four Bombs Rock Corsica

Ajaccio, Corsica (Reuter—December 28, 1996) Four bombs exploded on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica during the night, destroying two cars and damaging local government offices but causing no casualties, police said Saturday.

The outlawed Corsican National Liberation Front (FLNC) Historic Wing later admitted responsibility for the most damaging of the four blasts as well as for an earlier attack in which a rocket, apparently an anti-tank weapon, blasted a hole in the law courts building in Bastia, northern Corsica, on Friday.

Such attacks are common on the resort island where separatist groups have waged a campaign for two decades for greater autonomy from mainland France.

The biggest bombing of the night, just before midnight on Friday, badly damaged three floors of an Agriculture Ministry office building in the town of Pietrabugno and five nearby cars.

Two smaller blasts near the city of Bastia destroyed two cars including one belonging to an administrator at Agriculture Ministry offices in Biguglia, south of Bastia.

The final blast of the night, at 2.20 a.m. on Saturday, blew the door off the city hall in Ghisoni, 45 miles south of Bastia.

The FLNC has stepped up its guerrilla campaign since the detention on December 16 of Francois Santoni, head of the Conculta Naziunalista, the FLNC's legal wing.

Santoni faces charges of attempted extortion and arms violations.