Bomb kills 3 police, wounds 2 in far South
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Bomb kills 3 police, wounds 2 in far South

Police inspect the wrecked police truck blown in two by a bomb hidden under the road in Krong Pinang district, Yala, on Friday. Three policemen were killed and two injured. (Photo by Muhammad Ayub Pathan)
Police inspect the wrecked police truck blown in two by a bomb hidden under the road in Krong Pinang district, Yala, on Friday. Three policemen were killed and two injured. (Photo by Muhammad Ayub Pathan)

YALA - Three policemen were killed and two others wounded when a bomb exploded under their vehicle in Krong Pinang district, Yala, on Friday.

Seven police from Krong Pinang were travelling on two pickup trucks along a local road in Ban Benya, ferreting out information on drug gangs and militants, when a bomb placed in a drainage pipe under the road was detonated about 10.30am.

The explosion hit the second truck, a white Isuzu, which was blown in half.

An estimated seven gunmen then opened fire from the side of the road at the first truck, a black Mitsubishi Triton, which carried the other members of the patrol including the leader, a lieutenant.

The ambush prevented the men helping their colleagues in the bombed truck. The militants stole three M4 rifles and three pistols from them before fleeing.

The explosion left a crater four metres wide and one metre deep. Pieces of the 15-kilogramme gas cylinder that housed the explosives, an electronic circuit board and a wire about 100 metres long were left at the scene.

Police estimated the size of the bomb at 80kg and believed the attackers were members of a separatist group led by Hubaideelah Rommuelee which is active in the area.

The dead men were identified as Pol Cpl Nathapong Chartdam, 28, Pol L/Cpl Suriya Nunim, 32, and Pol L/Cpl Atthapol Luathep. The injured are Pol Cpl Siriwat Yotha, 30, and Pol L/Cpl Naruebet Muannoi, 25.

Yala police were hunting the attackers.

The huge crater left by the bomb that killed three policemen and wounded two others in on a road in Ban Benya village, Krong Pinang district of Yala. (Photo by Muhammad Ayub Pathan)

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