Two previous terror attacks there thwarted
POST REPORTERS
Security sources in the deep South suspect Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK) militants were responsible for the multiple bombing attacks in Songkhla on Saturday night.
Five bombs went off in Muang district, and another two in Hat Yai district. In the Muang district blasts, two young women were injured by bomb shrapnel. The blasts caused little damage to buildings or shops in the area.
The five spots in Muang district where bombs went off are the parking lot of Doctor Cool restaurant near Samila beach, a police booth on Chalathas road, and three 7-Eleven stores on Pratha road, Ramwithi road and Thale Luang road, respectively.
In Hat Yai, bombs went off at a 7-Eleven store on Rat-uthit road, and at Lung Jerm food shop, police said.
A source said the bombers wanted to dampen the public's confidence in their safety.
Intelligence agencies suspect three ustazes (Islamic teachers) were behind the bombing.
RKK had been trying to launch terrorist attacks in Songkhla since April, but had been thwarted twice.
Security agencies suspected three Islamic teachers known as Ustaz Soh, Ustaz Haleng and Ustaz Ding might have been involved.
They are believed to be core leaders of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional Coordinate (BRN Coordinate).
The bombs used were the same kind as those deployed in Bangkok when simultaneous blasts went off on Dec 31, 2006, and the bombing in Hat Yai district on May 26 last year.
The three ustazes had assigned an RKK group led by Dulyaman Maha to launch terrorist attacks in the province, said the source.
RKK is an armed unit under the BRN Coordinate.
Songkhla municipality mayor Uthit Chuchuay said he believed the bombers wanted to cause fear rather than to kill. They used low-intensity bombs with less potential to cause damage than bombs usually set off in the red-zone areas of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and four districts of Songkhla.
Nevertheless, Mr Uthit said he had asked police to step up security at tourist attractions in his municipality, particularly along Chalathas beach and the Samila peninsula.
Songkhla police are collecting footage from surveillance cameras near the bombing spots.
Somchat Phimthanaphoonphon, chairman of the Hat Yai Hotel Association, said the blasts did not cause serious damage, and were set off outside the town centre.
He believed the blasts would not affect tourism in the long run, but Thai tourists might delay visits to the province for a while.
Mr Somchat said he had talked to travel agents in Malaysia, who told him that Malaysian tourists - who make up the majority of foreign tourists in Hat Yai - were still confident in their security when visiting tourist attractions in Songkhla.
In Narathiwat province, a joint police-military task force yesterday arrested two men, aged 16, while they were removing knots from rail tracks between Cho Airong and Sungai Padi districts. They were identified as Nuswuloh Maming and Muham Uma. They were arrested with 44 rail track knots in their possession.
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Next
