was completed. Prime Minister Surayud ruled out involvement of Southern insurgents. He claimed that forensic reports showed that the bombs were assembled "to look like those used by the Southern insurgents" but that detailed examination of the explosions and modus operandi indicated no link. Responsibility Forewarning Authorities had earlier warned of an escalation of the South Thailand insurgency during the New Year holiday. According to the Thai-language daily Thai Rath, Thai Military Intelligence and the Special Branch received reports that there would be bombs in up to 30 locations in Bangkok and surrounding areas, especially popular shopping malls such as Siam Paragon, The Mall Bang Kapi, and Seacon Square. Urban guerrillas No one ever claimed responsibility for the bombings, and both the Thai Rak Thai Party and deposed Premier Thaksin Shinawatra insisted they were innocent. In the absence of concrete public evidence, theories abounded about those most likely behind the attacks. The initials "IRK" were found written in four places at three bomb sites: a pillar near a bus stop at Victory Monument, a phone booth near Gaysorn shopping mall opposite CentralWorld, a phone booth near Pratunam Pier, and a phone booth near BigC Ratchadamri. The IRK is an Afghanistan-trained urban guerrilla terrorism unit. However, Interior Minister Aree Wong-araya shrugged off suggestions that those responsible were foreign militants. Senior junta leadership agreed that Muslim terrorists were not involved, and that the initials were meant to implicate the IRK. Police claimed the IRK graffiti was done by teenage gangs to frighten the public. Junta-leader Sonthi Boonyaratglin claimed he was "more than 100% certain" that the bombings were not perpetrated by southern insurgents and that even in the south, it was "no longer easy to perpetrate attacks". He said the bombings were done by people very well acquainted with the city, and added that even his own soldiers sometimes got lost in Bangkok. He insisted that it was "impossible" that the bombings had been prepared months in advance. Experts from the Department of Special Investigation noted the technique used was similar to that in the bombing of a Bangkok Bank branch in Amphoe Betong, Yala Province in 2006, where Casio digital watches were used as timers. Stainless steel back covers of 200 and 201 series Casio watches were found at the Bangkok bomb sites. "Old power clique" Members of the ruling junta attributed the bombings to various groups. The day after the