FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Hunt for stolen milk pickup amid bomb fears

Hunt for stolen milk pickup amid bomb fears

Security increased on Bersatu insurgency anniversary, Malaysia independence day

THE COMMANDER of the Fourth Army Region, Lt-General Wiwat Pathompak, has ordered officers to hunt for a milk-delivery pickup hijacked by six armed men at a school in Pattani’s Sai Buri district on Tuesday afternoon, with concerns it might be used in a car bombing. 
Colonel Yutthanam Petchmuang, deputy spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command Region 4’s Forward Command, said security officers suspected the theft, which occurred in front of Ban Chamao Samton School, could have been a generic crime to be investigated by police rather than related to the ongoing insurgency.
Wiwat called a meeting on Tuesday evening to organise efforts to locate the Isuzu pickup as well as improve security in the area. Members of the public were also urged to look for the pickup, which belongs to Abdul-baka Malaya and has a Pattani-registered licence plate number Bor Thor 1426.
Sai Buri district chief Om Chualaem also announced a Bt100,000 reward for anyone providing information leading to the vehicle’s recovery.
As Malaysia celebrated its Independence Day yesterday, coinciding with the anniversary of the establishment of the Bersatu separatist group, Songkhla police joined navy officers to set up checkpoints at the four corners of Muang city. 
They screened motorcycles and cars coming into the city for explosives, weapons and drugs. Muang Songkhla superintendent Pol Colonel Alongkorn Srimawuth said that with the influx of Malaysians celebrating the August 31 holiday, the checkpoints would help visitors feel more secure.
Separately, suspected insurgents set off a roadside bomb that was allegedly targeting a team of paramilitary rangers returning to their base camp from a “sports day” event at a local school in Narathiwat’s Joh I Rong district yesterday. There were no casualties in the attack, which took place at 2.30pm on Jaru Sathien Road in Tambon Mareu Book.
Police and bomb squad personnel found a power pole damaged at the site and collected fragments that indicated that the bomb was a homemade explosive attached to a 20-kilogram cooking gas cylinder detonated with a walkie-talkie. 
Investigators said rangers from 48th Ranger Regiment were returning from the school in two six-wheel trucks with a pickup truck escort when insurgents detonated the bomb.
 
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