Published on June 19, 2006 - Six killed, 40 injured since Thursday; PM vetoes sending more government officials to the area

Three people were killed and ten others injured after two explosions and two drive-by shootings rocked the Deep South over the weekend.

The injured included four police officers.

So far, at least six people have been killed and nearly 40 injured in the three southernmost provinces following more than 70 bomb attacks on a daily basis since Thursday.

Yesterday morning, a roadside bomb hidden next to an electricity pole near a street junction in Joh I Rong district in Narathiwat was detonated while a convoy of 22 police officers in three vans was passing by.

The convoy was travelling to set up a check-point in the district's Ban Khok area.

The explosion hit the middle truck injuring Sgt-Major Wimol Tanong, Sgt-Major Chongpean Tapatha, L-Cpl Niwon Rongpong and L-Cpl Nitikorn Srisuk.

Two passers-by - Yana Umar, 24, and Suwareeya Teemo, 24 - were also injured by the explosion. All were rushed to a local hospital for medical treatment.

Investigating officials found a crater two feet deep and three feet wide, and believe that militants planted the bomb. A SIM card, pieces of mobile phones and other shrapnel was spread around a 15-metre radius from the blast hole.

The explosion came after a blast late on Saturday night at a karaoke bar in the Yala Rama hotel, which killed one man and critically injured two women.

Investigating officers said the device was detonated by a digital watch.

The bomb was hidden under a chair in a VIP room, said officials, who also found pieces of a four-by-eight-inch box believed to be the casing for the bomb and numerous bits of shrapnel spread around the room.

The explosion created fear among hotel guests, a large number of whom checked out.

Separately yesterday, Niso Muekha, 48, a former chief of the local tambon administrative organisation and canvasser for the Thai Rak Thai party, was shot dead in his car in Bacho district of Narathiwat.

Police said Niso was driving his pickup truck to Narathiwat University to take a class when an unknown number of gunmen driving in a truck approached him and opened fire with AK-47 assault rifles.

The bullets struck Niso in the body and head. He was found dead while the attackers remain at large.

Police suspect Muslim insurgents were behind this attack but did not rule out a personal conflict as the motive for his killing.

In Maelan district in Pattani, Jiam Yodkhong, 60, was shot dead in a drive-by shooting late last night.

Her neighbours, Chalaem Chuanchea, 60, and Wisanu Chantasaro, 17, who were sitting chatting with her were critically injured.

Police said four gunmen riding two motorbikes passed by Jiam's house and opened fire with M-16 assault rifles and a shotgun.

As they sped away, the suspected Muslim militants also put roadspikes on the street to obstruct any pursuing officials.

Police suspect the killing was retaliation for the arrest of some of their fellow militants two days earlier.

Meanwhile, caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday said the government would not send more officials to the South, but rather urged those already stationed there to work more cohesively.

Thaksin added that he would ask senior officials to station more officers in the area and monitor their work and operations.

Thaksin said that the conciliation work to win hearts and minds of the local Muslims must be done concurrently with the efforts to track and bring insurgents to justice.

He did not say when he would visit the region again, but stated that caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya would take care of the issue with the Army commander supporting.

More than 1,200 people have been killed since the violence re-emerged in the region in January 2004.