Four bomb-disposal officers killed in South, six others wounded in gas-cylinder blast

The cylinder containing about 25 kilograms of explosives was defused at a spot with a banner denouncing the peace talks between authorities and insurgents. It was taken to the barracks at the Marines Task Force 32 headquarters in Bacho district where an explosive ordnance disposal team tried to open it to dispose of the materials inside.
A source close to defence intelligence services said a second detonator was possibly hidden inside the cylinder, but Colonel Thaweesak Jantharasin later dismissed this theory, saying it was likely just a crude device.
“When the cover was spread apart, two live wires moved towards each other and when they made contact it activated the direct detonation of the explosives,” said Thaweesak, who is chief of the Army’s entire bomb disposal operations in the deep South.
The rigged bomb has been deemed a new tactic by the insurgents, especially those opposed to the peace initiative, to inflict more casualties and damage to authorities, civilians and military officials. Many analysts believe this attack was an act of revenge by insurgents for the shooting deaths of 18 comrades during an ambush on February 13 at a Marine base.
The banners, written in Yawi, were reportedly placed at 66 locations in the three southernmost provinces, likely by those protesting the meetings of Thai officials and representatives of the Barasi Revolusi Nasional Coordinate (BRN). At some sites fake bombs were also planted to delay disposal operations. An official figure put the banners at 119.
There was one explosion at a banner site in Sungai Padi district where a real mine was also laid, wounding the commander of an Army paramilitary ranger unit that was on foot patrol.
The placing of banners is seen as intended to mark the ninth anniversary of the Krue Se mosque incident on April 28, besides a symbolic move to condemn the peace dialogue, whose next round is scheduled on April 29.
At 12.50pm In Ra Ngae district’s Tambon Chalerm, a 25kg bomb planted in a garbage pile went off prematurely, wounding three civilians in a pickup truck including seven-year old and nine-year old girls.
Two sisters were wounded in a shooting in Pattani’s Mae Lan district following a vow made in flyers in response to the detention of a Muslim woman suspected of assisting in an insurgent incident on April 18.
General Paradorn Pattanathabutr, secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC) and chief of the negotiation team, said the recent insurgent attacks and banners were the work of other separatist groups out to prove their existence and possibly desiring to join the upcoming peace talks.
“There might be more bombings until the next peace meeting is held but they will remain in restricted areas,” he said.
Officials were coordinating with other rebel groups in case they want to be part of the peace process. BRN representatives were also talking with the Runda Kumpulan Kecil about possible participation in the peace process.
The main topics remained the offering of justice in several criminal cases, reducing violence in the restive South and the timeframe for reducing violence, he added.