Yala: A powerful car bomb and three other explosions rocked Yala Sunday, killing one person and wounding 28 people in attacks in broad daylight.
Explosives planted inside a parked pickup truck ripped through an area of the Racha furniture shop on Siroros Road, 200 metres from the Coliseum intersection in a busy area of Yala city, Col Pramote Prom-in, spokesman for the forward command of the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc), said shortly after the attack.
A number of houses and commercial buildings were destroyed. Several shop houses near the blast sites were set on fire and many parked cars and motorcycles were damaged by the powerful explosions.
Twenty-eight people, two of them girls — Yanawadee Sai and Mareeyae Masae — were injured in the blasts. The victims were taken to Yala Hospital.
The man who was killed at the scene was later identified as Nikom Kaje. He was an official at the Sirindhorn College of Public Health in Yala. He was riding a motorcycle near Racha furniture shop when the car bomb exploded.
Col Pramote said the car bomb was the first explosion at about 3.50pm.
Shortly after that local police, explosive ordnance disposal teams and fire fighters were called to the area.
About 10 minutes later, three bombs exploded simultaneously at Muang Mai market in Soi Yim Chinda, at an automated teller machine at Yala electricity office and at the Fasai furniture shop.
Fire engines were called in to help extinguish the fire.
Rescue workers extinguish a fire at the site of a bomb blast in Yala province yesterday. One person was killed and 28 others wounded, one seriously, while many houses were set ablaze after four bombs exploded in the heart of Yala town. REUTERS
Col Pramote said initial investigations found the pickup truck that was loaded with a bomb was believed to have been stolen from a shrimp farming business operator in Songkhla last month.
Insurgents are believed to have killed the owner of the vehicle.
He said explosive ordinance disposal officers have yet to verify what kinds of explosives were used in the four bombs.
“These attacks have been recurring for the past two years since the first car bomb took place in Yala on March 31, 2012, killing many people,” Col Pramote said.
“The insurgents want to take people’s lives, harm people of every religion and destroy commercial areas in Yala.”
Col Pramote recalled that on March 31, 2012, three bombs had struck Yala killing 13 people and wounding dozens more. He said they detonated only minutes apart, damaging vehicles and setting the surrounding shops and buildings on fire.
This time insurgents also wanted to use the same means to rock the deep South and attack people there again.
Col Pramote said insurgents are trying all means to create a climate of fear in the far South.
Before the latest car bomb attack and three other bombs in Yala, they used small-scale bombings or drive-by shootings that targeted soldiers, police and symbols of authority. They also killed teachers, children and villagers, both Buddhists and Muslims.
Col Pramote said Isoc officials are working closely with the local police force and community leaders in seeking intelligence about the insurgents’ movements and found that rebels are training young men to take part in their operations in the deep South.
Col Pramote said Lt Gen Walit Rojanapakdi, the newly appointed 4th Army Region commander, was very concerned about the deadly car bomb attack and three other bomb blasts in Yala. He immediately ordered Isoc military personnel and local soldiers to help support the work of police and ensure safety for people in local areas.
He also ordered local soldiers to set up checkpoints on roads entering and leaving Yala to search suspicious vehicles. “Lt Gen Walit is most worried about soft targets in the deep South,” he said.
Col Pramote said Lt Gen Walit pledged to bring peace to the deep South and to listen to the voices of the local people.