Maj-General Paitoon Pattana-sophon, commissioner of Songkhla Provincial Police, launched the raids early yesterday morning but failed to come up with any strong leads.

Paitoon said the death count rose from the original two victims killed at the scene after two others injured in the blast succumbed despite treatment in the intensive care unit at the Songkhla Nakarin Hospital in Hat Yai.

Meanwhile, in Pattani's Yarang district, a gunman riding pillion on a motorbike shot and killed Anand Kadir, 24, hitting him in the head with at least one round, while a female companion was injured but survived.

Anand died on the way to hospital after he and Yameeleh Che-soh, 20, who was hit in

the shoulder with a 9mm round, were found lying at the side of a road in the Tambon Mohamawee area.

In Narathiwat, fire-extinguisher canisters stuffed with explosives were found in a sweep through Tambon Bor-ngor in Rangae district by about 100 members of the Ranger Task Force 34 yesterday.

The explosives were found near the site of a brief gunfight between a 10-man patrol unit and a group of suspected militants on Friday in which two Rangers were injured.

In nearby Tambon Kalisa in the same district, a gunman riding pillion on a motorbike came up behind a pickup truck driven by Karim Bado, 29, and fired four shots. Only one round hit the driver.

Also in Narathiwat yesterday, a 32-year-old Buddhist man was reported gunned down in the morning in a drive-by shooting by suspected militants who left a note on his body that said: "This is revenge after you killed our people."

At least 27 people have been killed since last Sunday amid an escalation of violence

in the Muslim-majority deep South.

In Bangkok, Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda called for greater understanding between the Malay-speaking community in the South and the rest of the country.

Prem said the root cause of the violence in the restive region was misunderstanding, and urged the younger generation to do more to bridge the gap.

The Nation

Songkhla