Third suspect sought over deadly Pattani bomb attack

[webfact]

Third suspect sought over deadly Pattani bomb attack

By THE NATION

 

Fourth Army Region Commander |Lt-General Piyawat Nakwanich, centre, talks to volunteer ranger Thanya Ueafapraiwan, who was injured during the attack in Pattani’s Sai Buri district last Friday, at Songkhlanagarind Hospital in Songkhla yesterday.

 

PATTANI: -- SECURITY OFFICIALS are hunting a man on the run after he was allegedly involved in an attack in Pattani’s Sai Buri district that killed four soldiers and injured several others on Friday.

Lt-General Piyawat Nakwanich, the commander of the Fourth Army Region that overseas military affairs in the South, said yesterday that two suspects who worked as construction workers had already been detained over the attack. 

Piyawat did not reveal the identity of the third suspect but said the authorities had forensic evidence from the scene that could link the person to the attack.

 

The powerful bomb, believed to have contained between 80 and 100 kilograms of explosives, went off and ripped apart their pickup truck as the soldiers were patrolling Joh Keu Yae-Sai Buri Road in Tambon Taping.

 

 

Four soldiers who were sitting in the cargo bed of the vehicle were killed, while five others who were patrolling on foot near the vehicle survived.

 

The explosives were hidden in water drainage pipes at a construction site, so workers there were questioned for possible involvement.

 

Piywat was speaking after visiting Songkhlanagarind Hospital in Songkhla province and speaking to volunteer ranger Thanya Ueafapraiwan, who received an injury to his right eye during the attack. 

 

The general gave Thanya items that were granted by His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

 

The Fourth Army Region commander has asked the public to cooperate and help security authorities in preventing further violence in the South. People should not believe those who tried to divide the society by claiming that they were second-grade citizens, he said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30327554

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-09-25

[Srikcir]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

People should not believe those who tried to divide the society by claiming that they were second-grade citizens

In disbelief the military insists southern insurgents are merely thugs and criminals who have no ideology other than money and mayhem. In contrast it is believable to say that there is divide by treatment of southern Muslims as second-grade citizens who suffered force annexation of their sovereign nation and integration by Thailand.

 

The National Reconciliation Commission spent more than a year consulting intensively with southern community and religious leaders about how best to address Muslim grievances. In June 2006 it presented its report and recommendations with key recommendations including:

• designating the local Malay dialect as an additional working language for government offices
• introducing bilingual primary education
• providing justice for past abuses by security forces
• setting up a policy coordination body empowered to remove errant officials

These recommendations were the kind of actions that would address treatment of Malay Muslims as second-class Thai citizens. Little has changed since 2006 other than greater violence.