Four soldiers injured by bomb near mosque
Play
Four soldiers were injured, one of them seriously, yesterday when a home-made bomb exploded just outside a mosque in Thepha district in Songkhla.
Private Ratanachok Wattana was seriously wounded by the blast. The other victims were also Army privates.
The four soldiers, who were providing security at a nearby weekly market, were from Songkhla’s special forces unit.
They were deployed at the market to provide protection for shoppers and vendors working there. The explosion sent buyers and vendors running for cover.
Two men aged between 18 and 24 were suspected to have planted the improvised bomb against the mosque’s perimeter fence. Witnesses said the two arrived at the scene on a motorcycle with no licence plate and were seen leaving a box by the fence.
According to an initial investigation, the five-kilogram bomb built into the plastic box was left next to a garbage bin near the mosque and then triggered via a mobile phone signal. The location of the bomb was in an area where soldiers normally take their breaks.
Another bomb was also planted near a Buddhist temple in the district, but it was defused by a local bomb disposal team.
