Bomb explodes near Narathiwat school; no injuries
An official inspects the scene at Ban Lalae Shool in Narathiwat’s Sungai Kolok after yesterday’s explosion. The bomb failed to injure villagers and soldiers working just five metres away on a new building for the school.
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A bomb exploded at a school in Narathiwat province yesterday, causing no casualties despite going off only five metres from a group of construction workers, police said.
Not all of the explosives in the bomb, which was triggered by a mobile phone at about 9am, detonated, so the blast was not all that powerful, said Pol Sub-Lieutenant Phongsak Khongsorn of Narathiwat's Muno sub-district police station. The bomb was contained in a steel box hidden among construction materials used by villagers and soldiers who were helping to put up a building at Ban Lalae School in Narathiwat's Sungai Kolok district. Militants might have planted the bomb in an effort to prolong the violence that has plagued the predominantly Muslim region, Phongsak said. Violence has rocked the deep South since January 2004, when a military camp in Narathiwat was raided. The government has struggled to contain the violence, which it blames on separatist insurgents. Residents have criticised the government's heavy-handed approach to tackling the problem. Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya plans to visit the region next week. He will speak with a group of about 300 local intellectuals in an effort to get them involved in the government's development plans for the region. The intellectuals include many graduates of overseas universities who are active in Islamic and other traditional cultural activities in the area. Their coordinator, Abudullohni Gahama, said yesterday this "local wisdom" group would propose to Chidchai the establishment of an organisation to lay out a development plan covering five areas: education, religion, culture, justice and politics. The group comprises well-educated people who have strong faith in their motherland and love the Kingdom, and are willing to use their skills and knowledge to solve the South's problems, Abudullohni said. Many Muslims in the South further their education in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Middle East. The number of Muslims studying abroad has sharply declined over the past two years, however, from 300 a year to 100, due to the violence. Some families hesitate to send their children for further education in foreign countries - especially the Middle East - as they are afraid local government officials will link them with foreign terrorist organisations when they return, Abdullohni said.
The Nation Narathiwat
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