Yala Blasts Kill 9

[Flashermac]

Three bomb attacks minutes apart killed nine people and wounded more than 100 on Saturday in the heart of Yala in the insurgency-hit far South, a hospital worker said.

 

"There are nine dead now and 112 injured people sent to our hospital," a nurse in the emergency unit of Yala provincial hospital told AFP.

 

The Public Health Ministry said 10 people were in critical condition with severe burns.

 

The blasts took place within a 10-minute span near the Ruam Mitr intersection in the main business centre of Yala municipality around noon on Saturday.

 

The first bomb was hidden in a motorcycle parked outside a karaoke shop, according to local media reports. Insurgents detonated the second and third bombs, which had been hidden in a motorcycle and a car, when the authorities rushed to check the first explosion.

 

Several shophouses near the blast sites caught fire and many parked cars and motorcycles were damaged by the powerful explosions. Bomb squad officers were seen inspecting the mangled car wreckage at the site of the car bomb as firefighters doused blazes nearby.

 

Yala Governor Dethrat Simsiri said that many of the injured were hit by the third bomb, hidden in a car, as they gathered at the scene.

 

Rescue workers helped bloodied victims and searched for other wounded people as smoke filled the street.

 

The Yala bombing was the worst attack in the Deep South since January last year, when nine people were killed by a bomb in a village in the same province.

 

The complex insurgency, without clearly stated aims, has plagued the far south near the border with Malaysia since 2004, claiming thousands of lives, both Buddhist and Muslim, with near-daily bomb or gun attacks.

 

Authorities have imposed emergency rule in the Muslim-majority region, which rights campaigners say effectively gives the army legal immunity.

 

The military last week admitted that troops had shot dead four Muslim villagers on their way to a funeral due to a "misunderstanding" in late January after apparently fearing they were under attack from militants.

 

One of the region's deadliest incidents occurred on Oct 25, 2004, when seven people were shot dead as security forces broke up a protest in the town of Tak Bai, and 78 more suffocated or were crushed to death in trucks while being transported to a detention centre.

 

Rights groups have said the failure of Bangkok-based authorities to hold security forces to account over the deaths has fuelled further violence and alienation in the region.

 

Elsewhere in the troubled provinces on Saturday, a policeman was injured by a bomb explosion at a food shop near Mae Lan police station in Pattani province, officers said.

 

The victim was admitted to Pattani hospital but his identity and dfetails of his condition were not available. Police blamed separatist militants.

 

As well,a villager was killed in an ambush while walking home on a local road in Ban Khok Pan Ton in Pattani’s Mae Lan district late Friday night, reports said.

 

The victim was identified as Ama Wani, 34, a resident of Ban Khok Pan Ton. He was walking home with his four-year-old son on the local road in the village when gunmen hiding in a roadside forest sprayed bullets at him.

 

Ama was shot in the head and died on the spot. His son was unhurt.

 

Police were investigating.

 

My link

[Flashermac]

Deadly Hat Yai fire 'sabotage'

 

 

A car bomb is believed to have caused the fire that killed five people at a Hat Yai hotel and sent more than 300 to hospital today.

 

It was fairly clear that the blast was caused by a car bomb, according to evidence found at the scene, said Surin Weerasook, a mechanic (professional level) with the Region 12 Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office, who led an inspection team to examine the cause of the explosion.

 

Four men and one woman died in the fire, Songkhla Governor Grisada Boorach told AFP. He said 336 people were injured, of whom 28 were in hospital.

 

Hat Yai mayor Phrai Phatthano reportedly admitted that the fire was caused by sabotage on the underground floor of the five-star Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel. However, he urged all sides to wait for an official conclusion on what caused the blaze.

 

The fire broke out just after a series of blasts in the commercial heart of Yala killed 10 people and injured more than 100, on one of the deaadliest days of the protracted southern insurgency.

 

Mr Surin said explosives had been hidden in a car parked on the underground parking floor, B2 of the 33-storey Lee Gardens in Songkhla province’s business and shopping hub.

 

The force of the blast tore the car to pieces and debris penetared the hotel's first floor located three floors above.

 

About 10 cars parked on B4 were also heavily damaged.

 

Mr Surin’s assumption coincided with TV news footage showing that explosives ordnance disposal (EOD) police had collected objects believed to be explosive devices at the scene.

 

Charred remains of five human bodies, one of them a woman, were found on separate underground floors of the hotel. Between 300 and 400 people were injured, mostly suffering rom smoke inhalation, burns and injuries from broken glass and falling debris, Mr Prai said.

 

Initial reports indicated that the fire was caused by an explosion in the five-star hotel’s gas pipeline system, and officials denied reports of a car bomb.

 

Songkhla Provincial Administration Organisation president Udon Uthit Choochart told Thai PBS television shortly before 6pm that emergency fire and rescue teams had used cranes to evacuate all people stranded on upper floors between seventh and 33th stories, which house the hotel rooms.

 

Heavy black smoke was seen billowing out of the underground floors and clouding the sky. Authorities earlier tried to use ventilation fans to clear heat and smoke to help stranded guests flee the hotel but failed due to excessive smoke.

 

Reports said the air in the underground floors was filled with gas, requiring authorities to wear oxygen masks and take turns in the area, for only 30 minutes maximum at a time.

 

These buggers are getting professional. I wonder who is training them.

[kamui]

These buggers are getting professional. I wonder who is training them.

 

Wikipedia? Afghanistan documentaries? Al Qaida at Youtube?

 

Anyway, it surprising how low the interest of the international media is.

[Flashermac]

Years ago, when the Islamists overran an army camp and stole weapons, some of the attackers were described as speaking Indonesian - not the local Yawee Malaysian dialect. Thaksin famously stated that the Thai guards "deserved to die" because they were caught napping. (The Islamists cut the throats of the guards they captured.)

 

There's a little attention to this double whammy. But I wonder why not more. Maybe because Thailand has very little oil.

 

CNN

 

 

From Wikipedia:

 

<< Some reports suggest that a number of Pattani Muslims have received training at al-Qaeda centres in Pakistan, though many experts believe, to the contrary, that the Pattani guerrilla movements have little or nothing to do with global jihadism. Others have claimed that the insurgents have forged links with groups such as the religious-nationalist Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines and the quasi-secular Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Indonesia. >>

 

<< The insurgency is probably not caused by the lack of political representation among the Muslim population. By the late 1990s, Muslims were holding unprecedentedly senior posts in Thai politics, for example with Wan Muhammad Nor Matha (a Malay Muslim from Yala) serving as Chairman of Parliament from 1996 to 2001 and later Interior Minister during the first Thaksin government. Thaksin's first government (2001–2005) also saw 14 Muslim MPs and several Muslim senators. Muslims dominated provincial legislative assemblies in the border provinces, and several southern municipalities had Muslim mayors. Muslims were able to voice their political grievances more openly and enjoy a much greater degree of religious freedom. However, the Thaksin regime began to dismantle the southern administration organization and replaced it with a notoriously corrupt police force which immediately began widespread crackdowns; consultation with local community leaders were also abolished.

 

Discontent over the abuses led to growing violence during 2004 and 2005. Muslim politicians and leaders remained silent out of fear of repression, thus eroding their political legitimacy and support. This cost them dearly. In the 2005 general election, all but one of the eleven incumbent Muslim MPs who stood for election were voted out of office. >>

 

<< Since the 2006 coup that replaced Thaksin, the Thai government has taken a more conciliatory approach to the insurgency, avoiding excessive use of force and beginning negotiations with known separatist groups. However, violence has escalated. This likely backs the assertion that there are several groups involved in the violence, few of whom have been placated by the government's change of strategy. >>

 

http://en.wikipedia....land_insurgency

[Flashermac]

11 killed, 127 wounded in Yala blasts

 

 

A total of 11 people, six men and five women, were killed and 127 wounded, 10 of them seriously, in bomb explosions that rocked Yala town on Saturday, Public Health Minister Witthaya Buranasiri said on Sunday.

 

According to Mr Witthaya, eight people were killed at the scenes of three explosions and three died later at the hospital. Nine people were earlier reported killed.

 

The number of killed was earlier reported as 9 at 11pm on Saturday night, 127 wounded were taken to Yala Hospital for treatment. Of them, 31 were required to stay over night.

 

Ten of the wounded were in serious conditions, most of them from burns and bomb shrapnel.

 

Five of them sufferred more than 50 per cent burns, requiring a breath support system in an intensive care unit.

 

A volunteer ranger, Suvit Chuaychana, sufferred nearly 100 per cent burns. Preparations were being made to evacuate him by plane to Bangkok.

 

The other five seriously wounded were out of danger but two still risked turning blind because their eyes were hit by shrapnel.

 

My link

 

 

 

 

 

[Flashermac]

South Dem MPs to meet Tuesday

 

 

Democrat Party MPs from the five southern border provinces will hold a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the insurgency situation and offer suggests to the government following the car bombs in Yala and Songkhla's Hat Yai city on Saturday, Narathiwat MP Che-aming Totayong said.

 

The five provinces are Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Songkhla and Satun.

 

The MP said at this stage he would like the government to pay more attention to security in towns, a suggestion he had made before in the House of Representatives.

 

He said it was necessary for the government to have a clear-cut and concrete policy toward the South.

 

An idea to establish a special administration zone was also not the way out, he added.

 

"What happened indicates that the militants have found weak spots in existing security measures and the government has to quickly find out what they are," Mr Che-aming said.

 

My link

[Flashermac]

Police identify bomb suspects

 

 

Police have identified the insurgent gang they believe planted the car bombs in Yala and Hat Yai on Saturday which killed 14 people.

 

Police believe further attacks are likely in Hat Yai, and have identified the four vehicles which they say could be used to plant the bombs.

 

The blast on Saturday at the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel and shopping mall was caused by explosives left in a stolen vehicle, abandoned in the hotel's carpark, they confirmed Sunday.

 

They say the triple blasts in downtown Yala - which occurred about the same time and took 11 of the 14 lives - were also planted in stolen vehicles.

 

Insurgents stole most of the vehicles in previous attacks on security targets.

 

The vehicles police believe could be deployed in further attacks in Hat Yai were identified as a blue Isuzu pickup truck, a bronze Isuzu pickup, a white Toyota pickup and a black Honda sedan.

 

Police believe insurgents may have used them as getaway vehicles as they left the scene of the Saturday blasts.

 

Security footage shows suspected insurgents leaving the scene of the intended blasts in Yala in a Isuzu pickup truck and a Toyota pickup. In Hat Yai, they left in a black Honda sedan.

 

National police chief Priewpan Damapong said he believes the blasts were coordinated and mounted by the same people.

 

Eight of the 11 people killed in Yala died at the scene. Another three died later at hospital. About 100 people were injured, including 31 people who were were hospitalised, 10 in a serious condition. In Hat Yai, three people were killed in the hotel blaze, and more than 350 injured. Of these, 133 were still being treated in hospital yesterday.

 

The black Honda Civic sedan in which suspected insurgents left the scene of the hotel belonged to 39-year-old Thanasorn Kuasuk, an officer in Narathiwat's Si Sakhon district who was shot and killed in his office last October. The assailants fled in his car.

 

A police source said the sedan took gas and the insurgents probably used liquid explosive to set off the propane tank.

 

Police and forensic officials yesterday cleared three of five carpark floors under the hotel, making sure no other bombs were hidden there. The military is reviewing the hotel's security system.

 

More than 200 people showed up with car registration papers to claim their vehicles from the carpark.

 

In Yala, police found the Isuzu pickup seen leaving the scene belonged to resident Rohing Da-eso, who earlier reported it stolen.

 

Insurgents travelled in it on March 9 to attack a security checkpoint in tambon Kalor of Raman district.

 

The Toyota pickup also caught in security footage was stolen from a market in Muang district on March 20.

 

Fourth Army Commander Lt Gen Udomchai Thamsarot said on Sunday that authorities have identified a group responsible for the bombings and expect to make arrests soon.

 

A police source said the bombs were believed to be the work of a hardcore insurgent group led by Sahudin Tohjehmah, who is active in Raman.

 

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra expressed her condolences to the families and the victims of the bomb attacks, but said she did not plan on inspecting the area herself.

 

"Some staff would be assigned to provide security for me and I think that would hinder their efforts," she said.

 

My link

[Mekong]

Police identify bomb suspects

 

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra expressed her condolences to the families and the victims of the bomb attacks, but said she did not plan on inspecting the area herself.

 

"Some staff would be assigned to provide security for me and I think that would hinder their efforts," she said.

 

My link

 

The most sensible thing she has said since taking office

[Horneytorney]

she should send Chalerm Yubamrung! he is experienced in dealing with domestic violence...

[Flashermac]

But no experience in preventing it ... only defending it.