5 பௌத்தர்கள் முஸ்லீம் பயங்கரவாதிகளால் தாய்லாந்தில் படுகொலை

Bomb kills 5 defence volunteers
Terror group blamed for suspected reprisal attack

Published: 27/08/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News

Five defence volunteers were killed and another wounded in a bomb blast in Narathiwat's Rueso district while on their way to inspect the scene of a gun attack yesterday morning.

The six were travelling in a pickup truck heading to a rubber plantation in tambon Ruang of the district where Somsak Saeng-ngam, 53, had been shot dead by suspected insurgents while working in his rubber plantation.

The five victims killed by the bomb were Mayari Late, Eksunan Manirat, Ekkittiphon Chuayrot, Trizukifli Taye and Tri Thawin.

Their bodies were torn apart by the impact of the blast.

The injured defence volunteer was Triariphen Sira.

Pol Lt Sithanon Samli, who heads the investigation into the explosion, said the bomb consisted of 20 kilogrammes of explosives stuffed into a fire distinguisher. It had been buried in the middle of the road.

The bomb left a crater in the road about one metre deep and one metre wide.

Another team of police narrowly escaped the explosion because their car was travelling in front of the pickup that was hit.

Assistant district chief Sarawut Sama-ae, who survived the blast, suspects the Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK) insurgent movement was behind the attack.

Earlier in the day, a military ranger force from the Narathiwat 30 Special Task Force raided a mountain area believed to be the secret den of about eight RKK members, said Mr Sarawut.

The suspected insurgent group escaped the pre-dawn raid and might have asked their comrades in the communities to respond by attacking the six defence volunteers, he said.

In Yala, five garbage collectors of tambon Mae Wat municipality were injured when a bomb went off inside their rubbish truck while they unloading it at a dump site.

Two out of the five were left in critical condition after the blast that was reported to police around 7.30am.

Police investigators said the 5kg time bomb had been left in the rubbish.

Deputy Prime Minister Kowit Wattana, who is in charge of southern security affairs, said the government was speeding up measures to boost security and tackle the unrest.