Army set to ban male pillion riders in bid to stop attacks
Some 800 soldiers from the Fourth Infantry Battalion in Buri Ram gather for a ceremony yesterday before being sent off to serve in operations in the deep South.
|
|
|
The Fourth Army Area is set to ban men riding pillion on motorbikes in the far South.
But it will allow women - as long as they don't cover their faces.
Army spokesman Colonel Akara Thiproj said the directive would apply to the three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, plus four Malay-speaking districts in Songkhla.Akara said a significant number of killings by militants were carried out by men "riding shotgun" on the back of motorbikes. The news came as militants continued their daily attacks. Two villagers in Narathiwat's Sungai Padi district were killed, while gunfights were reported in at least two separate areas in the restive region. Deputy chief of Talingsoong village in Tambon Sungai Padi, Somjai Homwong, 39, and his wife Woon, 32, were found laying face down in their rubber plantation yesterday morning. A motorbike was parked nearby with rubber sap spilt from a bucket. Their bodies were riddled with bullets. Police found four shotgun shell cases nearby, plus three casings of AK47 bullets, and a .357 bullet. In Narathiwat's Rusoh district, an army unit was ambushed and it was dispatched to Tambon Sawor following a report about a suspicious box that authorities initially thought was a bomb. The soldiers found a number of huge logs laid in the middle of the road. The gunfight lasted for about five minutes before the four militants retreated into the woods. However, no injuries were reported. A similar incident took place at a train station in Rusoh district, where a "suspicious-looking" box was placed on the tracks and four huge logs laid on the road leading to the station. However, an operator was able to stop the train before it ran over the box. Security forces also conducted major raids in seven locations in Rusoh district and arrested five suspects, some of whom had items used to make bombs, plus medical supplies. One unit, that was part of a raid yesterday morning, came under intense gunfire for about 15 minutes in Tambon Rusoh, where the five suspects were detained. No injuries were reported. In Narathiwat's Waeng district, a roadside bomb went off. The explosion injured an unspecified number of people. Based on physical evidence, the bomb was set off with an alarm clock. In Tambon Krong Pinang in the same province, a roadside bomb injured one ranger - Sakariya Wadeng, 30, who was conducting a routine patrol with his unit. The bomb was set off remotely as the 12-man unit, from the Ranger 4409, walked by. Meanwhile, in Rajabhat College in Yala, over 1,000 local residents, including Buddhists and Muslim leaders, came together in a show of force, denouncing the violence and reiterating their commitment to support government policies in the South. Fourth Army commander Lt General Viroj Buacharoon presided over the function, along with members from the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC) and governors of the three southernmost provinces. In a related development, a former Wadah faction leader, former Senator Den Toemeena, called on Army chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin to point out which members of the faction were behind the daily disturbances. He said such allegations were damning to Sonthi's credibility, if he failed to justify them to the public. The Nation Pattani
|
