Army spokesman Colonel Akara Thiproj yesterday dismissed the claims of family members of a teenager who was shot dead by a ranger unit that he was an innocent bystander.

Abulkari Kasor, 15, died on his way to hospital after he was shot by a member of a ranger unit during a hot pursuit of a small group of armed militants who ran into the compound of a village Islamic boarding school after a brief gunfight.

A suspected militant, Afradi Pohmah, 26, suffered gunshot wounds in the course of the gunfight and is being treated for his wounds at the local hospital.

Colonel Akara did not provide details as to how Abulkari came in the line of fire, or whether he was engaged in the gunfight with the ranger units at the scene.

Colonel Akara said an unnamed eyewitness from the village Islamic boarding school into which the three armed militants ran told investigating officers that Abulkari was one of the militants being chased by the rangers.

The incident took place on Friday in Tambon Tasae of Yala's Muang district.

Meanwhile, in Tambon Talohkapoe of Pattani's Yaring district, three young men riding a motorbike suffered gunshot wounds when an unspecified number of gunmen waiting for them on a roadside, fired at them. All three - Sukrifi Bilham, 22, Hajiki Malae, 22, and Mahkoree Samae, 36 - were found lying on the side of the road.

Separately, a bomb attack in Tambon Yala of Yala's Muang district injured one soldier who was part of a patrol unit. The bomb was planted in a flowerpot in the compound of a public school and exploded when the patrol reached the area.

In Tambon Saparang in Pattani's Muang district, a gunman shot and killed Thammarak Thamarngsi, 49, a local drug-rehabilitation officer, who was riding his motorbike. He died on the way to hospital, police said.

Two shooting incidents took place in Yala's Bangnangsta district but no deaths were reported. Mayunu Thubingma, 37, was shot by a gunman riding pillion on a motorbike that came up from behind and fired two shots, hitting him with both.

In Tambon Thamtalu of the same district, a gunman hiding on the roadside fired a round from a shotgun and hit Doramae Pohae, 25, as he was approaching on his motorbike.

Doramae, a rubber tapper, was returning from the rubber plantation where he worked as a day labourer.

The Nation

Yala