Soldiers from other regions to be pulled from far South: Army chief
ARMY CHIEF General Udomdej Sitabutr has said all soldiers sent from other regions to provide security in the three southernmost provinces will be pulled out by April, leaving the task to the Fourth Army Region.
Speaking yesterday before flying to the region, he said the panel tasked with coming up with policies and strategies to solve the violence – chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan – had on Friday learned the satisfactory results of related operations and reported improvements in the situation.
That came despite a recent car-bomb attack in Narathiwat.
Prawit said the second phase of a ‘road map’ designed to bring about peace in the region, which applied proactive measures, was being implemented and the third phase of peace restoration and sustainable development would begin soon.
As a result, he said there would be fewer soldier deployments from other regions before the Fourth Army was left to do the job alone. He said the pullout had already started in areas deemed “ready” and rollbacks would be done after careful consideration based on an area’s preparedness.
Udomdej was in the region yesterday to follow the progress of the Internal Security Operations Command Region 4 Forward Command’s operations as well as the progress of road constructions using a para-rubber mixture. A quarter of 37 roads being built with rubber, for some Bt826 million, has been done.
Despite the military’s growing confidence about the situation on the ground, violence continued yesterday morning with a roadside bomb in Yala’s Raman district.
Insurgents targeted two trucks carrying 10 patrolling soldiers, who narrowly escaped injury.
