PATTANI/NARATHIWAT: A man was killed in a drive-by shooting in Pattani province and gas cylinders that could be used for making bombs were seized in a separate incident in Narathiwat province.
Police in Thung Yang Daeng district of Pattani were alerted on Friday afternoon after two men on a motorcycle shot Muhammad Ama, 35, of Kok Pho district, in front of a mosque in Thung Yang Daeng. He died on the spot.
An initial investigation found the victim was about to return home from praying when one of the perpetrators fired one shot at him and sped away.
Police have yet to establish the motive for the shooting.
In Narathiwat on Saturday morning, marine officers searched an area in Bacho district after receiving a tip about the suspects who had detonated a bomb targeting a marine patrol team earlier.
They found the suspects, a Glock 19 pistol, bullets and some crystal methamphetamine.
They later searched a house and found a number of tools. They also found two steel air-conditioning coolant cylinders, which had already been cut open, and some steel rods. The components could be used in assembling improvised bombs, which officers believe insutgents would use to attack security personnel.
The Internal Security Operations Command earlier ordered the replacement of steel gas cylinders with composite ones in the three southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat. That apears to have forced insurgents to look for different materials.