Soldier killed, 3 hurt in Narathiwat
A roadside bomb killed one soldier and seriously injured three others in Narathiwat's Joh I Rong district yesterday, while two suspected RKK insurgents were apprehended with a 10kg bomb by rangers in Rangae district.
The bomb, concealed in a fire-extinguisher cylinder and buried under Ban Khok-Ban Yaning Road in Tambon Chuap, was detonated at 11.40am when a pick-up truck carrying the four-soldier team passed by, said Pol Lieutenant Kavipat Kraipherm of Joh I Rong police.
The bomb killed team leader Master Sergeant First Class Suparp Setnok, 48, while seriously wounding Master Sergeant First Class Pongsak Singkaew, 32, Sergeant Wissanu Jampanil, 26, and Sergeant Thongpam Thanyarak, 30.
A police investigation found the team was returning to their base at Wat Joh I Rong from a community activity when suspected insurgents hiding in the roadside bushes detonated the bomb.
Meanwhile, a patrolling ranger team ran into a suspicious man carrying a sack, Abdulhagam Jehma, 23, on Rangae-Rusoh Road in Rangae district’s Tambon Mareu Botok at 11.30am. The man said he was waiting for a friend who had gone to have the flat tyre on his motorcycle fixed at a nearby garage. The team leader, Master Sergeant First Class Chamnan Phumraksa, asked to look inside the sack and found a 10kg home-made bomb.
The team also nabbed Muhammadsainung Yunu, 20, who returned to the spot 20 minutes later riding the black Honda Wave motorbike that Abdulhagam had described. The duo were further interrogated for information, including where they were planning to plant the bomb.
