A bomb explosion seriously injure six police
Six police officers were seriously injured in Narathiwat's Rangae district yesterday when an officer ignited explosives hidden under a mobile phone.
A 10-strong police squad was patrolling near a bridge between the villages of Chulabhorn and Kayumatee when a bomb exploded.Not all the explosives were ignited, and the officers were unharmed, but the blast caused a small crater near the bridge. The militants opened fire, and the police fought back. No one was injured after a 10-minute gun battle, and the militants escaped. The officers combed the scene for evidence, finding a pair of slippers and a mobile phone they believed belonged to the militants. An officer picked up the phone, not realising it was an improvised explosive, which police believe was a trap for the patrol. The six officers were rushed to hospital. A wave of explosions ripped through Narathiwat yesterday. No one was hurt when a bomb went off in a teacher's back garden in Sungai Padi district at about 5.30am. Police found wires and dynamite at the home of Somyot Thongmuang, 46, a Ban Sakor school teacher. Officers investigated a black plastic bag found near a telephone booth on the Sungai Padi to Sakor road, only to find it was filled with fertiliser. They believe the militants are trying to spark panic with a series of false alarms. Another suspicious bag was found outside the home of Wanayeedeng Malaya, 63, close to a police checkpoint in Sungai Padi district. The bag held explosives designed to be ignited by a mobile-phone signal. After defusing the explosives, police found the phone, which had been used many times in failed attempts to set off the bomb. The Nation
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