Arson, Grenade Attacks Rock Thailand's South

[webfact]

INSURGENT VIOLENCE

Arson, grenade attacks rock South

THE NATION

Simultaneous incidents in 6 Pattani districts injure no one but Narathiwat blasts hurt several

PATTANI: -- Insurgents in Pattani launched simultaneous arson and bomb attacks at six locations in three districts late on Wednesday, causing no casualties but inflicting heavy damage on government and private property.

Two attacks also took place in Narathiwat - a grenade attack on a shop in Rusoh district that wounded nine civilians, including a three-year-old boy, and a roadside bombing targeting a unit of soldiers, two of whom were wounded.

In Pattani's Muang district, a small shopping centre and a Big C outlet were destroyed by fires, while a Big C outlet in Nong Chik district was also torched. The attacks are being treated as arson. Police said the latter attack could have been an inside job, but did not elaborate.

A highway maintenance office in Sai Buri also came under arson attack. Police found a home-made bomb left at the scene, a paint can containing a live grenade with its safety pin removed. The grenade was later defused and disposed of.

Insurgents also attacked a construction company and attempted to set fire to a trailer-truck, which was damaged.

The four arson attacks in Pattani were started by devices equipped with timers, said provincial Governor Theera Mintharasak, who ordered security heightened in urban areas and at other key business locations.

Quoting a security guard on duty at the Super Department Store mall, police said insurgents hid behind a wall before throwing firebombs, which were tied to rocks and heavy objects, on to the mall's roof. The weighted bombs broke the roof tiles, allowing the devices to fall into the structure and set it on fire. Police said a similar technique was used in the attack on the Big C outlet in Muang district.

In the attack on the shop in Narathiwat, police said two attackers dressed as religious teachers arrived on the scene by motorcycle. A man riding on the back threw an M26 grenade at the grocery. The blast wounded nine customers and passers-by, including the baby boy and a female minor. None was in serious condition.

In Rangae district of Narathiwat, a team of six soldiers travelling in a pickup truck and on a motorcycle were hit by a home-made roadside bomb, made of 20-kilogram explosives placed in the cylinder of a fire extinguisher. Insurgents detonated the bomb but did not fire on the unit afterwards.

-- The Nation 2012-03-02

[noitom]

Check out this headline - "Simultaneous incidents in 6 Pattani districts injure no one but Narathiwat blasts hurt several" - The blasts "injured no one" , "but hurt several" Another example of award winning Thai journalism

[kevinellerton]

This is ridiculous. How long is this going to go on? We all know who's doing it... But the governments of the world have to be PC about it so nothing can ever be done. And who pays the price? Little kids wounded (or killed) by terrorist attacks. Tragic. Luckily THIS TIME nobody was killed. But what about next time, and the time after that?

I'm not suggesting "ethnic cleansing" like they did in other parts of the world. Just push them back to Malaysia. Maybe they will like it better there and stop killing everyone.

[erobando]

This is ridiculous. How long is this going to go on? We all know who's doing it... But the governments of the world have to be PC about it so nothing can ever be done. And who pays the price? Little kids wounded (or killed) by terrorist attacks. Tragic. Luckily THIS TIME nobody was killed. But what about next time, and the time after that?

I'm not suggesting "ethnic cleansing" like they did in other parts of the world. Just push them back to Malaysia. Maybe they will like it better there and stop killing everyone.

We all konw knows who's responsible? I thought part of the problem is that it's not clear.

Exactly who would Thailand send back to Malaysia? Everyone who supposedly has a connection with PULO? Every ethnic Malay? Is that who should be pushed back to Malaysia? I'm pretty sure the Malays were there before the area became part of Thailand.

And what exactly has Thialand been doing that is too "PC"?

[EyesWideOpen]

I have traveled through this area by motorcycle, and it is exactly like a war zone. What Thailand should do is just give it back to Pattani, and let them do as they wish. Thailand would lose a bit of face, but that has to be better than watching bombs explode for the next 1000 years....

[DeepInTheForest]

This is ridiculous. How long is this going to go on? We all know who's doing it... But the governments of the world have to be PC about it so nothing can ever be done. And who pays the price? Little kids wounded (or killed) by terrorist attacks. Tragic. Luckily THIS TIME nobody was killed. But what about next time, and the time after that?

I'm not suggesting "ethnic cleansing" like they did in other parts of the world. Just push them back to Malaysia. Maybe they will like it better there and stop killing everyone.

"I'm not suggesting "ethnic cleansing" like they did in other parts of the world. Just push them back to Malaysia."

This with no apparent sense of irony...

[metisdead]

A post containing references to the Royal family has been removed.

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Another off topic trolling post has been removed.

[poach]

I hope the police catch and charge these criminals.