Deep South on high alert after insurgents go on the rampage

Narathiwat Deputy Governor Nipon Narapithakkul said he had instructed village heads and kamnan to be on the watch for possible renewed attacks targeting state offices in their communities.

He ordered district chiefs to ensure that local community leaders under their supervision look out for suspicious characters entering their neighbourhoods. The deputy governor said the focus of safeguards should be on public buildings and schools.

Two schools in Pattani's Nong |Chik district became the targets |of arson attacks late on Friday.

The torching of schools followed an ambush on a military patrol in Narathiwat's Si Sakhon district the same day, in which three soldiers were killed and another seriously injured.

In Yala, nine-year-old Assaming Wateh was seriously injured when an unknown number of assailants fired at a military base. His doctor said yesterday that the boy was likely to be paralysed as stray bullets had hit his spine and brain.

The attacks came as authorities beefed up security for the 46th anniversary of a separatist group called the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) on Friday.

Nong Chik district chief Sanan Pong-aksorn said yesterday that he believed the latest torching of schools was intended as an act of revenge following the recent arrests of several leading insurgents.

The attacks could also be aimed at boosting morale on the BRN's anniversary, he added.

The district chief said he had ordered local officials to increase efforts to safeguard schools by installing more lights and bringing in extra guards to deter arson attacks.