Three dead in Pattani, Yala shootings
Two rangers and a villager were killed on Tuesday in separate attacks in Pattani and Yala provinces.
The Pattani victims were identified as Prapon Sommaneewan, 40, of Chiang Mai province and Sumpun Aonprawat, 26, of Nakhon Si Thammarat.
They were part of a sixmember patrol unit and were riding a motorcycle along NarathiwatPattani road in Sai Buri district when armed men in a pickup opened fire.
An exchange of gunfire lasting about 10 minutes followed before the assailants fled the scene. Spent shells of rifles and handguns were found at the scene.
The injured rangers were rushed to a hospital nearby but succumbed to their injuries.
Police believed that the assailants were also injured in the firefight. However police and soldiers who sealed off the area failed to locate them.
Meanwhile in Yala’s Bannang Sata district, Ahama Salae, 38, a rubber tapper, was shot to death at his home around 1.30am.
His wife said that a man broke into the house while Ahama, herself and their children were sleeping. The man then shot her husband and left.
Police believed that the attack was designed to cause a disturbance but did not rule out personal dispute.
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