Eight suspects sought for Narathiwat car-bomb
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POLICE are hunting for eight suspects over their involvement a car bomb attack in Narathiwat's Muang district on Friday that wounded 13 people, with arrest warrants to be issued in seven days, provincial police chief Maj-General Pattanawut Angkanawin sai
In a bid to prevent future attacks, Narathiwat Governor Natthapong Sirichana yesterday said officials would talk to police about declaring community areas in 13 districts helmet-free zones because most attackers used helmets to shield their identities.
Natthapong said the damage bill from the explosion was estimated at Bt15 million at least and it would take up to a month to return the blast area to normal, with 47 homes and shops damaged (13 severely).
As police continued to inspect scene yesterday, Pattanawut said a forensic team and explosive ordnance disposal personnel were trying to locate the detonator, which, if located, should provide key information about who carried out the attack.
Police are targeting eight individuals who may hail from Narathiwat’s Bacho and Yi-ngor districts, Pattani’s Sai Buri and Khok Pho district and Songkhla.
Pattanawut said the attackers seemed to be trying to regain local support after locals started to |co-operate more with the authorities.
He said the decision to carry out the attack in the downtown area reflected the attackers’ desire to show they still had to ability to do that.
The attack led to a home-made bomb in a motorcycle parked at a nearby intersection being defused, while a hand grenade lobbed into a food shop did not go off. The motorcycle was reported stolen in January.
An informed source reported that security camera footage captured two suspects involved in the car-bomb attack.
The source said one suspect planted the bomb in front of the karaoke bar before being picked up on a motorcycle by the other suspect and heading towards Yi-ngor.
At press time, police were trying to enhance the footage to see the motorbike’s licence plate.
A bar owner, who asked not to be named, said he was so disheartened by the attack he would close the business and open a noodle stall on the outskirts of town.
Colonel Pramote Phrom-in, spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command Region 4 Forward Command, said the aim of the attack was to sabotage ongoing attempts to restore peace in the southern border provinces.
He said the attackers also hoped to hurt the economy and discredit the government, which had been trying to end the unrest peacefully.
Pramote thanked the public for alerting authorities about the defused motorcycle bomb.
He said the bomb was planted in a 50kg cooking cylinder and placed in a Mitsubishi pickup that had a fake licence plate and was stolen following a shootout that killed the vehicle’s owner in Songkhla’s Thepha district late last year.
The truck was also used in a previous attack in Khok Pho.
Army Region 4 chief Lt-General Prakarn Cholayut had instructed related agencies to arrest the bombers and update the public on progress of the investigation while also helping the victims, Pramote said, adding that the Army would boost community participation to improve security in the area.
In related news, a brief gunfight erupted yesterday afternoon between suspected insurgents and patrolling soldiers on the Tawe Mountain Range in tambon Bo Ngo of Narathiwat’s Rangae.
The insurgents escaped and one soldier was slightly hurt.
