Thai Authorities Nab 3 Suspected Insurgents; 2 Soldiers Hurt in Bomb Attack

By Nasueroh
2015.03.17
150317-TH-rkkarrests-620 Nurses in a hospital in Pattani, Thailand treat Lance Cpl. Thanee Somrup, who was injured in a bomb attack, March, 17, 2015.
BenarNews

Thai security forces on Tuesday arrested three suspected insurgents in Pattani province, but a bomb injured two security personnel elsewhere while their unit was out on daily patrol.

The arrests came on the heels of an intelligence report that a Malaysia-based leader of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) separatist group, Doonloh Wae-mano (also known as Pohsuloh), was orchestrating a serial bomb plot in Thailand’s Deep South region.

In response, a joint force of military, police and civilian personnel launched a search operation in villages in Pattani’s Mayo district, Police Col. Jiraset Dao-ngerntrakul told BenarNews.

The sweep netted three suspected members of a BRN fighting unit known in the Malay dialect as Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK).

“We nabbed Sulkilfli Kaso, 28, who acts as logistic personnel, procuring weapons and supplying them to the members to attack innocents and officials. He was in Tambon Krasoe,” said Jiraset, with the Mayo police station.

A second suspect, Abdulmanah Dueras, 31, was arrested from a different house in the same Tambon (village cluster). Police traced him thanks to a tip from two RKK members in custody who are charged with the arson of a school in Baan Krasoe late last year.

A third man, Masakri Mayi, 27, was arrested elsewhere in Mayo district. Police said he had connections with insurgents in Pattani’s Mayo, Yaring and Muang districts.

The men are being held for questioning by the 43rd Paramilitary Military Task Force, Jiraset said.

Thailand’s martial law allows authorities to detain suspects for up to seven days for interrogation.

Tuesday blast

In the afternoon, a motorcycle bomb exploded as a patrol squad from the 44th Paramilitary Task Force arrived at Baan Kalapotok in Pattani’s Saiburi district, security sources told Benar News at the scene.

Two people were injured: Lance Cpl. Thanee Somrup and ranger Akarat Chuworathayee.

They were taken to local hospitals for treatment.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Narathiwat province, six armed men dressed in fatigue pants and black shirts were spotted in the Budo mountains by local villagers, police in Yi-ngor district said.

Police believe the insurgents came down from the jungle along the Thai-Malaysia border to take delivery of supplies, as part of the attack plot reportedly masterminded by a BRN leader based in Kelantan state, Malaysia.  

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