Narathiwat arsonists used wallets in new tactic

By NARONG NUANSAKUL 
THE NATION 
NARATHIWAT 

 

 

ATTACKS BEFORE VISIT BY IOC ‘MEANT TO SHOW INSURGENCY’S STRENGTH’

 

FORENSIC OFFICIALS yesterday retrieved the remains of four men’s wallets whose contents are believed to have caused the fire that destroyed a local department store in Narathiwat’s Muang district late on Friday night in the latest militant attack in the South.

 

Authorities have also said the attacks were apparently timed to avoid casualties.

 

The remains of two wallets were found near a shelf holding cans of air freshener, while the other two were found on a shelf holding spray cans of mosquito repellent.

 

Officials said the wallets were believed to have been equipped with a digital watch and a working circuit that overheated when a set alarm went off. The bags were hidden near flammable goods that were ignited by the burning bags.

 

The attackers may have mingled with the department store’s shoppers before hiding the wallets. The use of the easily hidden wallets was a new approach, said police.

 

The blaze at the Super Department Store was the second arson attack in the province on Friday, after the first fire engulfed a makeshift shop selling such home items as kitchen utensils, mosquito nets and mattresses before spreading to an aquarium shop next to it, causing damage worth Bt1 million and Bt500,000 respectively.

 

The fire at the Super department store on Chamroon Nara road in Tambon Bang Nak caused about Bt10 million in damage. The store was previously attacked by insurgents in 2012.

 

The attack has caught criticism as the department store is the largest in the province and situated in an officiallydesignated “safety zone” that is supposed to be under heavy security.

 

Pol Colonel Charoen Tham-makhan, a Narathiwat police commander, has assigned police to review the footage of area security cameras, including roads leading to the attack site.

 

Police were not sure whether the same culprits planted the men’s bags at both sites or whether they divided into groups for each site.

 

A security source said the attackers were believed to be newly active insurgents and trained specifically for the mission by experienced militants. They do not have previous arrest warrants.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30339650

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-02-26

Did they take out their ID first?

8 hours ago, webfact said:

the attacks were apparently timed to avoid casualties

Not like ISIS - al Qaeda style attacks.

Maybe the southern Muslim insurgents are learning that attacking civilians is not productive to their cause for autonomy,

i had higher hopes when i clicked this link, i always mix up percussionist with arsonist