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| Southeast Asia |
| Thai terrorists torch school, wound soldier in separate attacks |
| 2008-08-11 |
| A primary school was torched and a member of a military patrol unit was wounded in separate attacks in Narathiwat yesterday. A fire broke out at Ban Tanyong school in Bacho district at about 1.30pm. The blaze destroyed two wooden buildings. Assistant school director Atta Dolor, 51, said he was leading afternoon prayers when the fire started in a storage room. Two buildings near the storage room were gutted by the blaze. Police said they were treating it as an act of arson. According to police inquiries, at least two or three people entered the school compound, broke into the storage room and poured petrol on teaching tools before setting them on fire. Also in Bacho district, Sgt Cha-on Bangpu, 35, the driver of a patrol vehicle, was shot and injured when his unit was ambushed at about 2pm. The ambush was followed by a brief exchange of gunfire before the attackers retreated into a coconut plantation. A suspect seen near the area was detained for questioning. Seven teenagers were yesterday detained on suspicion of involvement in last week's series of bomb blasts in Songkhla in which four people were injured. Police yesterday raided a rented house in tambon Khuanlang in Songkhla's Hat Yai district following a tip-off that the teenagers, from the deep South with possible links to the bomb attacks in Songkhla on Aug 2, were staying there. The teenagers, including one girl, were questioned by police. Items which could be used for staging unrest such as camouflage uniforms and batteries were also seized in the house. The teenagers denied any involvement in the bombings. They said they went to study in Songkhla and some worked as rubber tappers and security guards. Security agencies are on alert for possible violent attacks during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, starting in early September. An official attached to the Internal Security Operations Command's (Isoc) Region 4 branch said more violent attacks were predicted during the fasting period as insurgents wanted to show their work to attract financial support from donors in Thailand and overseas. |
| Posted by:ryuge |