Six killed in Pattani
Six people were killed and two injured yesterday when suspected militants opened fire on a local government office in Pattani's Ma-Yor district in broad daylight.
Four heavily armed men on motorcycles opened fire on the Kradoe tambon office at about 11.40am. Five people died at the scene while another victim, assistant tambon chief Anurat Isarapongpan, died later in hospital."The attack was very cruel. It took place in broad daylight when the office was crowded. The victims were easy targets because they were all in a meeting room," said Wirat Prasetto, district chief of Ma-Yor. Initial investigations showed the officials tried to fight back but their weapons were inferior, said Wirat. The attackers snatched the weapons of the victims before fleeing the scene. Police found a box at the scene of the attack, which was later checked over by a bomb squad. In the afternoon, two soldiers were seriously injured in an ambush by suspected militants in Pattani's Khok Pho district. The soldiers are members of a protection unit for teachers. They and other soldiers were on their way to pick up teachers from a school when the suspected militants ambushed them. After 10 minutes of shooting, the attackers managed to escape.
|
