Navy arrests boat carrying 72 illegal Muslims from Burma

FAR SOUTH

Navy arrests boat carrying 72 illegal Muslims from Burma

POST REPORTERS

Phangnga _ A navy patrol vessel arrested 72 Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority in Burma, suspected of working with southern insurgents, in a boat found drifting off Kura Buri district on Wednesday. Vice-Adm Supoj Prueksa, commander of the Third Fleet, said the HTMS Phuket was returning from a mission to rescue 65 tourists stranded by high seas on islands in Surin Marine National Park when it came across the 10-metre wooden boat.

He said the 72 Rohingya were likely to be charged with illegal entry.

In Narathiwat, a combined security force raided a house in Sungai Kolok district yesterday.

They detained Jaturong Jeh-alee, 27, the house owner, and seized a .38 calibre pistol and five bullets. He was charged with illegal possession of weapon and ammunition.

On Wednesday, two more suspects were arrested in connection with five bomb blasts at two hotels in downtown Sungai Kolok on Dec 31, injuring 32 people, two of them critically.

They were identified as Amsoh Lae, 24, and Morsordik Saelae, 23. The pair was sent to Ingkhayutthaboriharn military camp in Pattani for interrogation.

Earlier, police arrested three other suspects soon after the five bombs went off.

Yala Governor Theera Minthrasak yesterday gave relief cash to three families of village defence volunteers killed in an ambush in Bannang Sata district on Dec 18.

He also visited and gave relief cash to two security officers wounded by a bomb explosion at a food shop on Dec 31, and to a village defence volunteer injured in an ambush on Dec 18.

Also in Yala, Waemuhama Waebueraheng, 48, was shot and killed in his own house in Yaha district on Wednesday.

In Pattani, a roadside bomb blast seriously wounded two soldiers belonging to a teacher escort unit in tambon Manung Yong in Yaring district yesterday.

The explosion occurred on the Pattani-Narathiwat road.