Insurgents launch 39 coordinated attacks in four deep South provinces
Suspected insurgents carried out coordinated attacks on at least 39 locations in four southernmost provinces in the early hours of Friday, leaving at least one person dead, local security authorities said.
A woman employee of a convenience store in Pattani province, described as a Myanmar national, was reportedly killed in an explosion caused by a homemade bomb.
Colonel Ekwarit Chobchuphon, spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC)’s Region 4 forward office, said on Friday that the first attack happened at around 1am.
He said a total of 20 attacks were reported in Pattani, 11 in Yala, six in Narathiwat, and two in Songkhla.
The spokesman did not reveal the dead victim by name, only saying that she worked for a convenience store in Pattani’s Mayo district that is located in a petrol station. She was pronounced dead after arrival at the hospital, he said.
Authorities were investigating and gathering evidence to find the perpetrators, he said.
The victim suffered severe injuries after five armed assailants arrived at the petrol station at around 1.30am and triggered an improvised explosive device inside a gas cylinder after placing it at a fuel dispenser, according to an ISOC source.
Colonel Ekwarit said on Friday that local security authorities had been on alert for possible insurgent attacks during the current Ramadan month of fasting, which coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Takbai crackdown on Muslim protesters in Narathiwat province.
He said thanks to intelligence, security authorities had foiled plots for similar attacks on many occasions. However, the latest attacks were carried out by young people who had no records of committing insurgent attacks, the spokesman said.
“They have no arrest warrants against them. They are a new group of assailants who are not in the records. So, it’s difficult to take pre-emptive action against them,” he said.
In Narathiwat, insurgents carried out arson attacks in six districts targeting factories and construction businesses. Seventeen vehicles and a workers’ lodging were set on fire, police said on Friday.
In Yala, arson attacks targeted two 7-Eleven convenience stores, a furniture store, power poles, and mobile network antennas.
In Pattani, three 7-Eleven stores were targeted in separate arson attacks.
