More attacks feared as bombs kill another four
Another series of bombs rocked the South yesterday, killing four security officers and injuring one other.
The explosions happened only a day after a coordinated wave of more than 100 attacks by militants throughout the predominantly Muslim region. Caretaker Interior Minister Kongsak Wantana said his men had been given notice in advance of the attacks, but many of the incidents, including explosions and arson, took place in remote areas which were not covered by closed circuit televisions. Kongsak warned yesterday there would be another series of attacks in the region but he did not know how soon or which specific places would be targeted. One of yesterday's bombs went off at a bridge along the rail track in Songkhla's Chana district at about 6am while a group of police was on routine patrol. The bomb, triggered by a mobile phone, killed police sergeant majors Pornsak Kongthong, Charoon Chobtaeng and Kasem Chuprachong. All three men died instantly. The State Railway of Thailand's (SRT) southern region halted all train services between the upper and lower South for security reasons, said director of the SRT southern operation centre, Thanongsak Phongprasert. A second bomb exploded yesterday in Narathiwat's Joh I Rong district at about 8 am while a group of army medics was on the way to provide healthcare services to local residents. The blast slightly damaged the group's two vans. The third explosion took place in Pattani's Nong Chik district at about 4pm yesterday and claimed the life of Command Sergeant Major Yongyuth Kudsing. He was inspecting a military outpost that was set on fire in Tuesday night's wave of attacks. In the worst of Tuesday's incidents, an arson attack on a rubber factory in Nong Chik destroyed about 160,000 kilogrammes of rubber worth Bt30 million. The factory was razed and left some 250 workers unemployed. A total of 118 places have been attacked in Songkhla, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat since Tuesday. Authorities detained five suspects from Pattani and Narathiwat yesterday in connection with the attacks. Ninth Police Region Deputy Commander Thani Thavitsri said the militants have a well coordinated operation to cause havoc in the deep South. He assumed they had been planning the Tuesday attacks for at least a month. "They have a good system that links all cells in villages and the authorities cannot easily trace their movements," he said. "We are only in defensive mode, while they are in an offensive one." - The Nation
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