Patrolling rangers get a lucky break
Play
Rangers patrolling a rural road narrowly escaped death on Monday from a roadside bomb in Pattani's Sai Buri district.
Meanwhile, the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) Region 4 Front reported that the month of March saw a total of 132 casualties in the southern insurgency.
The eightstrong ranger team alerted police and a bomb squad at 11am to defuse the bomb, which was planted by a bridge in Ban Payor in Tambon Kadunong and linked to a trigger device hidden in the woods.
After 30 minutes of spraying water to destroy the bomb circuit, experts spent a tense half an hour defusing and dismantling the bomb in the hot sun while officials watched the nailbiting operation.
The team, led by Lance Corporal Phuwarin Khongthong, was split into two, one patrolling the forest and the other patrolling the road. They spotted two young men hiding suspiciously in nearby woods, which caused the pair, in their teens, to flee.
The rangers patrolling in the woods saw electrical wire linked to the bridge, and urged fellow rangers on the road to stop and take shelter while they alerted the bomb squad.
Earlier, suspected insurgents burned down a total of 15 security cameras in Khok Pho district in Pattani – nine in Khok Pho municipal area, one in Tambon Makrud, and three in Tambon Na Ket.
In Songkhla, ISOC Region 4 Front revealed that there were 57 violent attacks – 36 shootings, 15 bombings, five incidents of public disturbance and one case of arson – from March 131. Some 33 people were killed and 99 others injured. Divided by province, Pattani had 22 incidents, Yala had 12, Narathiwat had 21 incidents, and Songkhla had two incidents.
From January 1, 2004 to March 31 (Sunday), a total of 5,075 people were killed and 9,279 injured in the unrest.
