Insurgents bomb and strafe southern train

Train services in Yala province were suspended on Sunday November 18 after suspected insurgents detonated two bombs and opened fire at a train in the province, killing one defence volunteer and wounding 15 other commuters.

          The force of the blasts from two improvised explosive devices each weighing about 15 kilogrammes derailed the Number 453 train which shuttled between Yala township and Sungai Kolok district.  Security officials said that the two IEDs were detonated by a switch wired to the devices.  After the explosions, suspected insurgents who were hiding in the bushes near the rail track sprayed the train with automatic gunfires.

          One defence volunteer identified as Palakorn Khunkaew, 25, was killed by the gunfires and 16 others injured, three of them in serious conditions.  All the injured were later rushed to Rueso district hospital by security forces who were dispatched to the scene.

          The train attack prompted the State Railway of Thailand officials to suspend all train services leaving Yala township and vice versa as a safety precaution until the situation has returned to normal.  The service suspension left hundreds of commuters stranded at various stations forcing them to turn to other modes of transportation.

          Security was also stepped up as security forces checked baggages and luggages to look for weapons or explosive devices.

          Earlier on August 28, suspected insurgents opened fire with automatic weapons at the Surat Thani-Sungai Kolok train as it was heading for Cho Airong district.  One defence volunteer who was on board the train was killed and another injured.

          According to the SRT, there have been more than 100 gun and bomb attacks as well as sabotage attempts against trains in the three southernmost provinces since 2004.

          The train services in the three southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat from Hat Yai terminal downward cover a distance of about 200 kilometres with altogether 27 stations of which 12 were identified as high risk.

          Elsewhere in Ra-ngae district of Narathiwat on Sunday, a Muslim woman was shot dead and her son seriously injured after they were attacked by gunmen as they were riding home in a motorcycle from their rubber plantation.

          In Sai Buri district of Pattani, a Muslim man who works as a janitor at a school was seriously shot in front of his home.

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Thanks : Photo by Muranee Mama