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| Southeast Asia |
| Thai bomb count |
| 2005-06-09 |
| Tension gripped Pattani province yesterday after militants went on a trouble-making spree to create a chaotic day for officials. They launched two bomb attacks, left six fake bombs at different locations, set fire to roadside shelters and signboards and spray-painted separatist messages in several districts. The first bomb, contained in a paper box left under a bamboo bench, went off at 10am in front of the house of a Thai Buddhist in tambon Yamu of Yaring district. The blast damaged the roof and spewed shrapnel that wounded a Yaring police officer and three firefighters. The wounded were identified as Pol Lt-Col Kowit Samarnchok, Rapeephan Chaisuwan, 31, Amnart Nipholwit, 42, and Kasem Sitthichai, 30. ``Police frequently sit on the bamboo bench in front of our house. The bomb attack was aimed at police,'' said Buakham Chaiprom, 30, a daughter of the house owner. Another bomb went off at 2pm near a police booth in Muang district of Pattani. Nobody was injured in the attack. Police also found six fake bombs at several spots in Yaring district including in front of a post office, a temple, a bank and schools. Separatist messages were also spray-painted in white and red on roads, bridges and signboards in Yaring, Khok Pho and Sai Buri districts in the early hours of yesterday. One message read ``Get out! This is my land''. Another read ``Pattani Merdeka (Independent Pattani State)''. Pol Col Suthon Ditsayabut, Yaring police chief, said roadside shelters in the district had been torched. Several Thai national flags and signboards were also found burnt. He believed some students of the Jihad Witthaya private Islamic school might have carried out the arson attacks to take revenge after their school was closed down. On May 19, a task force raided the school and found several VCDs showing al-Qaeda terrorist-style weapons training and documents inciting people to fight for an independent state. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |