Insurgents operating in Than To district of Yala and those in Muang district were responsible for a string of explosions in downtown areas of this southern province, police believe.
Yala police chief Songkriat Wathakul yesterday called a meeting with police investigating the bomb blasts that rocked downtown Yala on Sunday and Monday.
In one of the attacks, a powerful bomb, weighing at least 100 kilogrammes and placed in a cooking gas cylinder, had been planted in a white Mazda BT 50 pickup truck parked in front of Racha furniture shop on Siroros Road in Muang district on Sunday. The bomb went off, killing one person and injuring at least 28 others. Soon afterwards, a motorcycle bomb exploded in front of the Fasai shop on the same road, but caused no injuries.
There were other blasts at 7-Eleven convenience stores and at the Sri Samai warehouse in Muang district on Monday, causing damage estimated at over 100 million baht.
Pol Lt Gen Songkriat said police investigators believe the blasts that shook the town for two consecutive days were the work of the same group of attackers. A Samsung Hero mobile phone found at one of the blast scenes showed that it was used to detonate some of the bombs.
CCTV footage showed men sitting in the truck believed to be suspects in Sunday's bombing.
Police are now gathering further evidence on the suspects, Pol Lt Gen Songkriat said.
A probe team source said footage showed at least four suspects were in the white Mazda BT-50 pickup truck that was carrying goods. The truck containing the bomb had a sticker bearing the name of the Banlae tambon administration organisation on its windshield. Police believe the suspects aimed to mislead people that the vehicle belonged to the state.
The investigators believed members of the same network of insurgents colluded in the Than To district and Muang district bombings.
Lt Gen Paradorn Pattanatabut, acting secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC), yesterday said several factors, such as the anniversary of the founding of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the anniversary of the charter of the Bersatu separatists, the anniversary of the Krue Se massacre, changes in key security positions at the 4th Army Region and the NSC and a halt in the peace talks in the deep South, were linked to the recent bomb blasts.
He urged authorities to take extra caution as those creating unrest had sent a message that there would be similar attacks.
He dismissed Democrat Party claims that the explosions resulted from failed peace talks between the acting NSC chief and the BRN separatist group, saying details of each round of talks were made public.
Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Pol Gen Pracha Promnok said that Gen Yuthasak Sasiprapa, the caretaker deputy defence minister, would be responsible for adjusting operating strategies of security agencies in the deep South.
However, Gen Yuthasak yesterday said he has not received an order from caretaker Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra asking him to supervise the southern unrest.