Seven suspected insurgents arrested in Yala
YALA - Security troops Sunday arrested seven men suspected of involvement in several insurgent attacks in the restive South and seized an assault rifle together with other items believed to have been used in their operations.
Police and soldiers from Task Force 15 apprehended seven men during their raid on a house in Yala's Muang district Sunday. Police said they also seized from the house an AK47 assault rifle with 30 rounds of ammunition, eight mobile phones, nine bank passbooks, photos of public places and buildings in Yala city, five motorcycles and one car.
Four of the suspects, age 2529 years, are residents of Yala while the others are from Pattani province. One of them Abdullah Baheh, 25, is wanted in connection with two murder cases of a school director and a woman in Yala in December last year and in April this year respectively, investigators said.
Urine tests on the seven men showed that they had taken methamphetamine and marijuana. All of them denied involvement in any insurgent attacks in Yala and elsewhere, according to police.
Muang district police chief Pol Col Phumephet Pipatphetphume said Sunday police believed the suspects were gathering at the house to prepare a new insurgent operation in Yala city.
In a continuing insurgency in Narathiwat province, a gunman shot dead a 16yearold boy at a grocery store in Tak Bai district Sunday. The victim was son of Payon Thongkupt. 47, a teacher at Tak Bai School. Payon said he believed that the assailant might have targeted him at first but turned to his son after they did not find him at the shop.
Earlier Sunday, a fire broke out at Baan Sripangan School district and police said they found traces of arson at the scene. One school building was destroyed by the blaze.
In a related development, Yala Governor Teera Mintrasak Sunday said he planned to call a meeting of all village headmen in his province on Thursday to discuss tighter security protection for schools.
Commander of Yala-based Task Force 1, Col Shinawat Maendej, Sunday said he has instructed all security units to stay on maximum alert against new insurgent attacks on civilian and government establishments and to increase checkpoints and patrols on Yala-Betong highway, the strategic communication route for four border districts.
The Nation
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