Arson, fiery messages light up four Yala districts
Suspected ethnic Malay insurgents torched two cellular towers in the southern border province of Yala early Friday and simultaneously set tyres alight in eight different locales.
Police said the incidents occurred at nearly the same pre-dawn time in Muang, Bannang Sata, Krong Penang and Thanto districts. No one was injured.
TrueMove H towers in the Tambon Prom villages of Moo 2 and Moo 5 in Muang district were set on fire, damaging equipment. The same two towers had been damaged in arson attacks in 2016.
The insurgents also set fire to tyres on a road in Ban Lam Mai village in Tambon Lam Mai in Muang district.
In Bannang Sata, tyres were burned in three locations in Tambon Tanoh Puteh and a banner was hung condemning the government of “Siam” for stealing the resources of the “State of Patani” and using development projects as a premise for permanent occupation.
In Krong Penang, tyres were piled across roads and set afire in two villages in Tambon Sa-ae. A message painted on one road said, “The people do not want troops. Soldiers must leave the independent State of Patani.”
Tyres were also torched in Thanto’s Tambon Thanto in locales about one kilometre apart and a banner was erected similar to that in Bannang Sata.