TWO members of Sukhirin Volunteer Defence Corps were killed and 16 others injured in Far South Narathiwat province as insurgents detonated a bomb then unleashed a volley of gunfire just as they were returning to their camp after attending a boat race this afternoon (Sep. 18), Amarin TV said.
At 2.52 p.m. Pol. Col. Praphot Lomkhet, superintendent of Sukhirin police station, received a report of a bomb and gunfire attack on a Volunteer Defence Corps team as they were travelling in a six-wheel truck down a road in Ban Bulu-ya-ing, Rom Sai subdistrict, resulting in multiple casualties and vehicle damage. He reported the incident to his superiors and quickly went to the scene with Sukhirn District Chief Pichit Rungprasert with more policemen and some soldiers also rushing there.
At the scene, they found the truck lying upside down on the road with several victims trapped within. Rescuers pulled them out and transported them to Sukhirin Hospital for treatment. Approximately 20 metres away, they found a bomb crater around two metres deep and three metres wide. Debris from an improvised explosive device, made from a 50-kg cooking gas cylinder, was scattered across the road and in the dense roadside vegetation; no detonator was found at the site.
Of the 16 defence corps volunteers injured five are in critical condition.
An investigation revealed that prior to the incident, the defence corps team was travelling back to their base in Sukhirin district after attending a boat race at the “Narathiwat Local Products Fair” in the city district. Upon reaching the spot, an unknown number of assailants, who had been lying in wait at the dense roadside vegetation,detonated an explosive device that they had planted beneath the road surface .
The force of the blast caused the vehicle to overturn and tumble repeatedly across the road. Insurgents then opened fire, prompting the defence corps team to return fire with their service weapons. The attackers subsequently used their familiarity with the terrain to escape.
Authorities believe this is a retaliatory attack after security forces killed two of the insurgents’ bomb-making specialists on the Tawe Mountain Range on Sep. 9.
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This and Front Page: The scene of the deadly attack in Narathiwat province killing two defence corps volunteers and injuring 16 others. Photos – Amarin TV
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