2 suspects sought in South bombings that kill 3
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Police have sought arrest warrants for two men suspected of planting a car bomb and a motorcycle bomb in Narathiwat's Rusoh district that killed three people and injured 16 others on Saturday.
The motorcycle used belonged to Narong Chantem, with a registration number that was suspended last year. It was modified into a three-wheeler carrying a 70-kilogram gas tank parked outside the house of Chakan Nuanchan in tambon Rusoh. The bomb was detonated using a mobile phone with a timer.
The car used was planted with a 50kg explosive device. It bore Narathiwat licence plate number 4145 and was registered to Salee Salaeh. It was parked outside the home of female police officer Penpimol Chantamano, who works at Rusoh police station. The bomber removed the registration number from the car’s engine. The bomb was detonated by a mobile phone with a timer.
CCTV footage captured at the two bombsites shows clear images of the bombers. The man who drove the car bomb wore a blue T-shirt. He drove the car around Rusoh municipality and passed a mosque, before parking the car at the scene. Another man wearing a helmet is seen driving a red motorcycle to pick up the car bomber.
Police believe about six followers of Masukalue Yakuma, a leading insurgent, were responsible for the two bombing incidents. They are believed to be hiding in the same tambon in Rusoh district.
Arwae Suleng, 50, father of Anna Suleng, 25, a victim of the car-bombing who is being treated in an intensive care unit, said he had already lost a 3-year-old granddaughter in a separate bombing incident and that the father of the girl was seriously injured.
Maj-General Pisit Sithisarn, Narathiwat Special Task Force Commander, visited the Arwae family at the Narathiwat Ratchanakarin Hospital and provided compensation to his family.
At the hospital, Pisit also visited a 7-year-old boy, Jetsadapron On-banchong, who was earlier injured in a separate car-bombing in front of Ban Yaba School.
Bulan, Jetsadaporn’s mother, said she wished insurgents would stop hurting innocent children and women and that peace would return to the South. Pisit said insurgents would be eradicated from the area through law enforcement.
Meanwhile, two brothers were shot dead, their bodies found lying next to each other near a well in a forest in Narathiwat’s Yi-ngor district. Waenudeng Tayaeh, 27, and Waehama Tayaeh, 39, were both shot in the body and head. Four cartridges were found near the scene.
The two brothers were last seen leaving home on Saturday night. Police are investigating the motive for the killing.
Democrat Narathiwat MP JeharmingTohtayong called on Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to adopt a new strategy in handling the violence in the South. He said the government must find a political solution to the problem.
He said the premier did not understand the problem and that had contributed to the worsening situation there. He called on her to adopt a proactive strategy and show leadership and vision in solving the problems in order to restore the confidence of local people.
