'Misunderstanding led to shootings'

The Internal Security Operations Command Region 4 committee submitted on Friday sent its investigation report to the Army Region 4 commander. 

The committee investigation found that the nine people in the pickup truck had bona fide residences in the area. All the witnesses gave uniform testimony that they were travelling to pray at a local mosque, and attend a party at another place before heading to a funeral in Ban Thung Pho. The DNA tests of the three injured persons did not match those on the database of militant suspects, hence there was no suspicion of the nine being involved in the violence in the South. 

The investigation also looked into the controversy over the AK47 rifle found near the driver and a pistol found in the rear of the pickup among the dead. The rangers had claimed that the persons in the truck had shot at them first, forcing them to retaliate, leading to the deaths and injuries. The wounded villagers denied that the weapons belonged to them. 

The committee found that there was no match between the weapons found in the truck and spent bullets found in the truck. A test on the three pickup passengers, who were suspected to have been the shooters, also did not reveal any traces of gunpowder on them. The committee concluded that the villagers’ claim about the weapons in question carried more weight than that by the rangers. 

The committee also looked into officials’ claim of the violence in the South as being a factor behind the incident. The panel accepted the argument that the rangers were on duty and anxious as another military outpost had been attacked by militants around the same time that day. This point was corroborated by the local residents and the wounded villagers. 

The committee concluded that the shooting by the rangers that led to the deaths of four unarmed civilians and four injuries was possibly due to misunderstanding. They said it was probably because of another attack on a nearby military outpost, combined with the existing bias and paranoia due to the ongoing violence. Despite the good intentions of both sides, a gunshot from an unknown party had led to the shootings. 

Meanwhile, a teenaged schoolgirl was killed and four other schoolgirls were injured in a bomb ambush at Ban Datoh Tuwor in Pattani’s Ya Rang district yesterday afternoon. They were on their way home on three motorcycles after appearing for their final exams.