[Khaosod] Jittraporn Banjong was near the checkout counter when two men with covered faces entered the 7-Eleven where she was working. They fired a gunshot and told everyone to get down before pouring gasoline all over. The four employees escaped through the back door just as the fire spread through the convenience store at a gas station in Pattani province. They later learned the attackers placed an improvised explosive device in front of the gas station to attack responding authorities.The arson and bombing was among 19 similar attacks to strike three southern provinces Wednesday night, killing three people and wounding five others. In addition to military and police targets, many of the attacks targeted infrastructure such as utility poles.
Not far from the convenience store were 13 representatives of the junta's interim cabinet, who had arrived earlier for unprecedented, high-level talks with local religious leaders about the ongoing peace talks and economic development in the region.
A spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command, a special military unit that answers only to the prime minister, dismissed a link between the attacks and the Bangkok delegation’s visit. Col. Peerawat Sangthong said, "There was nothing to indicate it was because of the visit."
Among the three killed Wednesday night were two security guards at an automobile showroom in Songkhla province. They were gunned down by militants who then bombed the building. Another blast reportedly hit the showroom again Thursday morning. No one was hurt.
The third to die was a soldier who was shot when four gunmen on two motorcycles opened fire on a military facility in Pattani province.
In Pattani, 12 attacks hit targets including a military facility, utility poles and police box. Six blasts hit Songkhla’s Thepha and Chana districts, and one explosion was reported on a road in Narathiwat's Bacho district.