Yala bomb blast kills three police, 2 seriously hurt
THREE police officers were killed and two other officers seriously wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Yala’s Krong Pinang district yesterday.
Police suspect that a group of insurgents, led by Hubaideela Rommeulee, was behind the attack, as the area where the attack took place is their turf.
Yala police chief Maj-General Itthipol Atchariyapradit ordered police teams to inspect target areas in the hunt for the culprits.
The attack happened around 10am while seven policemen were travelling on two pickup trucks on a road in Ban Benya Moo 1 ville in Tambon Purong. They were gathering intelligence in the area about insurgents as well as a drug-trafficking ring.
Police said the home-made bomb directly hit one truck, hurling it into the air and breaking it in two.
Corporal Natthapong Chatdam, 28, Lance Corporal Suriya Noonim, 32, and Lance Corporal Atthapol Luathep died at the scene. Corporal Siriwat Yotha, 30, and Lance Corporal Nareubet Meunnoi, 25, were seriously wounded.
Following the explosion, a group of at least seven insurgents opened fire at the two police officers in the other truck as other insurgents stole three M16 rifles and three pistols from the slain officers before fleeing.
The blast crater was about four metres wide and one metre deep. The bomb was encased in a 15kg cooking cylinder, with an electronic circuit panel and 100 metres of electrical wire found at the scene.
It is estimated the bomb weighed 80 kilograms and was planted in a water pipe under the road.
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