Insurgents step up ferocity

By Waedao Harai and Maluding Deeto

An unarmed rubber tapper and two plainclothes rangers on a covert infiltration mission were killed and their bodies burned in Rueso district of Narathiwat yesterday in separate brutal attacks.

The rangers were apparently shot off their motorcycle by their insurgent ambushers.

The charred bodies of Sgt Chakkrapong Pol-nguen and ranger volunteer Thawatchai Maneesang were found on the side of a road in Pu Poh village in tambon Samaggi. The motorcycle was found nearby.

The rangers had been on a covert mission to gather information, and had left their base at the 44th Ranger Forces Regiment in plainclothes to mingle with the locals as usual in order to monitor insurgent movements.

Police said the killers shot the soldiers before dousing their bodies with petrol and setting them on fire. They also stole their weapons.

Earlier, rubber tapper Kuna Sangthong, 48, was shot and burned in Rueso district.

In nearby Sungai Kolok district, teacher Nattee Pungpetsawat, 48, was shot in the leg.

Two schools were set ablaze in Raman district during the weekend.

Arsonists who burned classrooms at Ban Zue Lo school also scattered spikes on the road to delay firefighters and deter pursuit.

A one-storey building housing kindergarten rooms, a first-aid room and library was destroyed. Firefighters saved a two-storey building.

Witnesses said four or five people broke into the buildings, doused books with petrol and set them on fire. A five-litre petrol container was found nearby.

Police suspect the same gang torched Ban Panathaksin school in the same district on Saturday.

In Yala's Bannang Sata district, Jogo Josamoja, 47, was the latest casualty of a drive-by shooting. He was standing in front of his house when he was killed.

In Raman district, two military outposts were attacked on Raman road and one soldier wounded.