Yala's roadside bomb injures 8 soldiers

Gissada Boonraj, deputy governor of Yala, said the precision of the Thursday evening roadside attack suggested it was the work of a major cell.

Moreover, the location where the attack occurred suggests the attackers may be looking to flee to Hat Yai or other locations outside the traditionally targeted area, he said.

Although Songkhla's Hat Yai, the commercial centre in the South, has witnessed a couple of major attacks over the past two years, security officials tend to dismiss suggestions they are the work of Malay Muslim separatists in the three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.

Meanwhile, in Tambon Padoe of Pattani's Yayor district, Mayakoh Waeeh, 60, a security guard at a local elementary school was shot dead by a gunman on a motorbike while walking home from a local mosque

 The shooting came as Pattani's Governor Panu Utairat praised the decline in attacks over this past week.

Separately, three violent incidents erupted in Narathiwat's Rangae district, including the shooting at a school building at Tambon Maruboetok as students and teachers were standing in front of the flag during the morning assembly.

The same tambon also witnessed an attempt on the life of Nipol Rojbamrung, 38, who was shot at while walking in front of her residence.

About 50 troops responded by surrounding Maruboetok  but failed to make any arrests.

 In the Rusoh district of the same province, authorities detained 17 individuals who were trying to flee  as authorities arrived in the village.

Besides the 17 suspects, the five hour sweep through Tambon Rusoh turned up one .38mm handgun with 32 rounds, a homemade rifle, and medical equipment.