Mechanic slain by four gunmen, girl hurt
Violence continued unabated for the third day yesterday as bombings, shootings and arson attacks rocked the deep South, leaving one person dead and four injured, including a five-year-old girl. The attacks came after a series of bombings on Wednesday that killed four security officers and left another in coma.
Since Tuesday, 118 places have been attacked in Songkhla and the three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. Only three incidents, in Pattani, took place at official buildings. Officials said they were tipped off about the attacks and beefed up security at major government sites. In the latest violence, mechanic Anuwa Chetae was found dead in his pickup truck on the Yaning-Joh I Rong Road in Narathiwat's Joh I Rong district yesterday morning. Police said four gunmen riding two motorbikes followed his car and opened fire with more than 10 rounds from AK-47 assault rifles and a shotgun before speeding away. Anuwa, whose body was riddled with bullets, died instantly, said police. Rattikarn Suksem, five, who was playing with four friends near the scene, was hit by a bullet in her right leg. She was rushed to hospital and is in a coma. Late on Wednesday, four gunmen opened fire with an M-16 assault rifle on Saudee Yamasata, 23, Muhamadlasi Duemanee, 15, and Yalem Arwae, 31, in a drive-by shooting. The three were talking in front of a house. They were admitted to a local hospital. At 3am yesterday, two classrooms in Ban Rusoh Witthaya School were set ablaze by two suspected insurgents. Fire-fighters took half an hour to put out the blaze. The classrooms were severely damaged and 69 students had to study with other classes. At about the same time, more than 10 assailants chopped down 700 young palm trees over an area of 30 rai in the Nong Chik district of Pattani. The palm garden belongs to Pol Sgt-Major Itthipol Haji-bura. At 7am, a bomb exploded in front of a rubber shop in Narathiwat's Chanae district, but no one was injured. The five-kilogram home-made bomb, believed to have been remotely detonated by a cell phone, destroyed a wall of the shop. Train services in the deep South resumed yesterday after they were suspended following Wednesday's bombing, which killed three policemen at a bridge along the rail track in Songkhla's Chana district. Thanongsak Phongprasert, director of the State Railway of Thailand's southern area, said inspection of the railway would be on a random basis for the safety of officials. More than 1,300 people have been killed since violence re-emerged in the Muslim-majority South in January 2004.
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