Patrol bombed, shot in head

By Post Reporters

Yala

An eight-man teacher-protection patrol was wiped out when militants overturned their pick-up truck with a roadside bomb in violent Bannang Sata district Friday.

Elsewhere, Ban Tungka school was torched on Thursday in Muang district, destroying seven classrooms along with computers and books. Police said arsonists broke into the classrooms and set fire to books and chairs.

An intelligence source has also warned that insurgents plan to paralyse Yala province by disrupting transport routes in Betong, Than To, Bannang Sata and Yaha districts. They may ambush security forces at the same time, throw spikes on roads, and fell trees to block inter-district roads, the source said.

The attack on the paramilitary patrol took place around 8.40am when the light truck carrying eight soldiers was flipped over by a roadside bomb in Ban Buesu.

Roadside blasts targeting military vehicles followed up by ambushes by armed militants are becoming a common tactic of southern militants. Earlier this month, 12 rangers were killed in a similar attack.

The soldiers killed in yesterday's ambush were on their usual patrol when the explosion occurred. The blast flipped the truck, throwing the soldiers onto the road. Suspected militants then emerged from the roadside and fatally shot seven of the soldiers in the head from close range, leaving one badly wounded.

The attackers then retreated, taking with them the soldiers' weapons.

The dead were identified as Sgt-Maj 1st Class Janya Intrawisai, Sgt Rangsan Rakchart, Cpl Kittisak Chaosiwa, Pvt Dulayapol Mingsang, Pvt Pairoj Boonkong, Pvt Banchong Chumthong, and Pvt Yodmanu Ammanee.

Sub-Lt Pattapol Prapan, 24, who was seriously injured, was rushed for emergency treatment at Yala Central hospital.

Bodies of the soldiers had to be air-lifted out of the area because the road was strewn with spikes.

In other violence, a tambon administration organisation (TAO) chairman and two kamnans were killed in an attack on their vehicles on Thursday in Mai Kaen district of Pattani. A third kamnan of tambon Taloh Sai Thong, Maeree Suding who travelled with the group, was wounded.

Dead were Waesamae Basor, TAO chief of tambon Don Sai, Suemae Todeng, kamnan of tambon Don Sai, and Hama Sarae, kamnan of tambon Sai Thong.

The four Muslim men were returning home from a party in central Pattani when they were ambushed by armed men who sprayed their vehicles with bullets.

A source said Waesamae had been released on bail on security violation charges. A large quantity of medical supplies were found in his house, making him a suspect of aiding insurgents.

In Narathiwat, a 200-strong combined force of civilians, police and soldiers searched Batu Buesa village in Rangae district yesterday following the death of a suspected insurgent.

Satorpa Siroma, 35, believed to be a member of the Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK), was killed while trying to set off a home-made bomb targeting security personnel on Thursday.

The explosion also wounded two other suspects, Matoreh Masae, 27, and Sugiblee Sahibatu, 23, who were later caught and detained. Police seized a .38-calibre pistol, six bullets, three radio transceivers and a motorcycle.