YALA: Two rangers were killed and 14 other rangers, bomb squad members and civilians injured in a series of coordinated bombings which rocked two districts in the province yesterday.
The first ranger killed was identified as Pvt 1st Class Thanate Phuttho, a 29-year-old attached to the 47th Ranger Task Force while the name of his dead comrade was not given.
The first explosion, caused by a 15 kilogramme bomb planted by a power pole in Kabang district, was reported around 7am to Kabang police station.
Investigators said villagers heard an explosion around 1.30am, but no one dared to go and check on it.
They waited until sunrise and then discovered a bomb blast had damaged the pole, but caused no injuries.
An Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team was sent to examine the scene. They were travelling on the road linking Yala and Kabang district, when a second bomb went off as the team passed through tambon Padaeru in Yaha district about 9am.
The explosion damaged a vehicle driven by a ranger volunteer and the van carrying the EOD unit.
Pvt 1st Class Thanate, and the ranger volunteer, Arwut Auppapong, were injured at the scene.
Police accompanying the unit exchanged fire with a group of ambushers.
About five minutes later soldiers from the 47th Ranger Task Force arrived, and the insurgents quickly withdrew.
Bomb squad members jammed mobile phone and radio signals in the area before inspecting the scene. The bomb had been placed at a roadside pole and detonated by radio.
While they were still examining the scene, another bomb exploded there about 10am. It injured many officials and defence volunteers.
The latest reports were that a total of 16 people had been sent to hospitals in the area. Pvt 1st Class Thanate and Pol Sen Sgt Maj Aniruth Chantawong were pronounced dead at a hospital.
Lt Gen Piyawat Nakwanich, commander of the 4th Army, ordered prompt action to catch the insurgents and provide full support for the families of the deceased and injured people. He said insurgents aimed to instigate unrest in the province regardless of safety of residents.
Prior to the two blasts, authorities were also informed of a suspicious object left at a bridge on Highway 4070 Yaha-Kabang in Yaha district.
The area was temporarily declared off-limits so the object could be examined, forcing motorists to take other routes.
Security was also stepped up in Yala municipality after authorities received a tip-off about a possible car bomb around 10.15am yesterday.
According to officers, around four pickup trucks without licence plates were spotted in the municipality.
One of the vehicles was an Isuzu D-Max suspected of carrying two bombs in a gas cylinder weighing 50kg and 7-8 gallon cans containing fuel.
The vehicle procession was believed to belong to an insurgent network, led by Useng Thammawitthaya.