An Islamic religious leader was shot dead in Pattani, while four soldiers narrowly escaped injury in a roadside bomb blast in neighbouring Narathiwat province on Saturday.
Dormeng Benjaewan, 76, tor Imam of a mosque at Payonok village in tambon Kadunong in Sai Buri district, was shot by two men on a motorcycle in front of a food shop in tambon Kadunong around 6am on Saturday.
The pillion rider fired several shots at him, hitting him in the head and body. He was seriously wounded and pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Mr Dormeng, who commanded respect from local residents, had earlier survived a previous gun attack. He had been known for working with authorities in an effort to resolve unrest in the troubled border region.
Also on Saturday, soldiers from a royally initiated livestock project escaped unhurt when a roadside bomb went off in Tak Bai district of Narathiwat, said Pol Col Jeeradet Prasawang, chief of the Tak Bai poice, who was alerted around 12.50pm.
The blast occurred on Liapkhlong Road in front of the Munoh livestock village. The bomb, packed into a cooking gas cylinder weighing about 25 kilogrammes, was detonated by radio as a Jeep with four soldiers onboard drove past.
The vehicle was partially damaged but all four soldiers were unhurt.
The blast left a crater about one metre deep and one metre wide. While police bomb disposal officers were examining the scene, a suspicious item was found opposite the crater. The officers declared the area off-limits before destroying the object, which turned out to be harmless.
Bomb disposal officers examine a crater left by a bomb blast in Narathiwat's Tai Bai district on Saturday. (Photo by Waedao Harai)