Southern Thailand-Three bomb blasts rock Sungai Kolok
Three bomb blasts rock Sungai Kolok
- 3 killed, more than 50 hurt, in 40min spree of violence - Foreign tourist among dead, security chief badly wounded https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif
A wounded victim pleads for help after a Malaysian and two Thais were killed and 50 other tourists and residents wounded by three motorcycle- and car-bombs in Sungai Kolok in the deep South.
At least three people, including a foreign tourist, were killed and more than 50 wounded in three car and motorcycle bomb attacks in Narathiwat's Sungai Kolok district last night.
The first of three explosions went off at 6.40pm opposite the Teochew Association in Soi 3 of Charoen Khet Road in Sungai Kolok municipality.
The blast, which came from a parked motorcycle, wounded a large number of passersby, both tourists and locals, and killed a member of staff from the association.
About 15 minutes later, another motorcycle bomb went off in front of a bar about 300 metres from the first explosion, near a junction leading to the Sungai Kolok branch office of ToT Plc. Several Thais and Malaysian tourists sustained shrapnel wounds.
Around 7.20pm, a third bomb exploded from a car parked near a food stall opposite the Merlin Hotel.
The impact damaged several shops nearby and one side of the hotel.
Capt Theerapong Suwannawetch, commander of the 1922 task force responsible for security in Sungai Kolok, was also seriously injured.
Two more people, including a Malaysian tourist, were killed, but it is not yet known in which explosions.
Police have detained two suspects for questioning about the three bombs.
The explosions caused a wide power blackout in the downtown area.
Authorities blocked roads around the three bomb sites and mobile phone coverage was cut while they inspected the scenes, to prevent any possible remote detonations of further bombs.
The bomb attacks came hours after a Muslim police officer and a defence volunteer were shot dead in a mosque in tambon Budi in Yala's Muang district.
Pol Snr Sgt Maj Arong Malaya and defence volunteer Mahama Yama were killed in the attack by two men.
At noon prayer time, four men drove up to the mosque on two motorcycles and two of them walked up to the victims who were praying and shot them in the head. Three other villagers nearby were wounded.
Police said the two dead men used to work with Sompien Eksomya, a policeman dedicated to quelling the southern unrest.
Pol Gen Sompien was killed in a bomb blast early last year.
The mosque shooting came a day after five security officers were killed and one injured by a bomb buried under a road in Pattani's Kapho district.
In another attack, a bomb detonated at a military base of the Narathiwat 31st special task force in Cho Airong district of Narathiwat on Thursday night, wounding three soldiers.
Six soldiers had left their base to set up a checkpoint in a nearby village. The attackers detonated a roadside bomb as the soldiers walked past.
Around the same time, another group of attackers shot at the base.
Officers believed the bomb attack was aimed at luring soldiers to leave their base to inspect the blast scene.
This made the base more vulnerable, as fewer troops were guarding it.
Deputy Prime Minister Kowit Wattana admitted suspected militants had stepped up their activity after the government transferred high-ranking officers to the region.
"I have talked to unit commanders about tightening security," he said. "We will have to launch a pre-emptive strike [against the insurgents]."
From 2004 to August this year, 11,074 cases of violence in the Muslim-dominated provinces in the far South have been reported, and 4,846 people - mostly Muslims - have been killed, according to Deep South Watch.
In Narathiwat, police yesterday arrested Maroki Ding, 30, a suspect allegedly working with the Runda Kumpulan Kecil guerrilla group, at a house in Ban Ta Lo Neng in Muang district.
Homeowner Dolo Arong, 54, was also arrested for allegedly giving the man a place to hide.
Earlier on Thursday night, in Yala and Pattani, two people were killed and four others wounded in attacks suspected of being linked to the insurgency.
One of the victims was Masainung Lateh, 46, a member of Katong tambon administration organisation in Yala's Yaha district, who was shot and killed in a drive-by attack, police said.
