Roadside bomb injures 15 soldiers in Pattani

General news - Thursday December 13, 2007

SOUTHERN VIOLENCE / ONGOING MAYHEM

Roadside bomb injures 15 soldiers in Pattani

ABDULLOH BENJAKAT & WAEDAO HARAI

Pattani _ Fifteen soldiers were wounded in a roadside bombing in Nong Chik district yesterday morning. The two home-made bombs were detonated on No 42 Pattani-Hat Yai road about 10am as four buses went by carrying soldiers assigned from Khon Kaen to the deep South.

The explosion destroyed the front end of the the fourth bus and wounded 15 soldiers on board. Four sustained serious injuries.

Police said the attackers had hidden explosives in fire extinguishers and buried the devices in the road, setting them off by remote control.

Following the blast, a combined sercurity force raided a nearby villages to search for the bombers.

The soldiers, from Dechochai military camp in Khon Kaen, were returning from a two-month break in their hometowns to resume duty.

In other attacks, a Muslim religious teacher was shot dead in his own house in Krong Pinang sub-district in Yala on Tuesday night.

Three assailants used M16 assault rifles in the attack on Niloh Jehlae, 57, who taught at a Muslim ponoh school. Nilo was a member of an advisory committee in Krong Pinang sub-district. He was also known for his prominent role as a da'i in spreading correct Islamic principles.

Police said he was shot in the head, neck and torso, and blamed a local insurgent group.

In neighbouring Narathiwat, eight militant suspects were detained at a house during a raid mounted by a 100-strong combined force in Cho Airong district on Tuesday night.

The force acted on a tip-off that some insurgents had gone into hiding in a house in Ban Khok village and were plotting violence against the authorities.

Guns and bomb-making material were seized during the operation.

All the suspects were sent for further interrogation at the fourth development battalion in the Narathiwat Ratchanakharin army camp.

Bangkok Post