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Published on September 22, 2007

Yala

 A roadside bomb injured eight soldiers in Tambon Katong, Yaha district, in what was described as a possible shift in tactics because the attack was carried out on one of the region's main highways.

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

Moreover, the site of the bombing suggested the attackers might be looking to flee to Hat Yai or other locations outside the traditionally targeted areas, 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 Wae-eh, 60, a security guard at a local elementary school, was shot dead while walking home from a local mosque by a gunman on a motorcycle.

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

Separately, there were three violent incidents in Narathiwat's Rangae district, including a shooting at a school building in Tambon Maruboe-tok 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 Maruboe-tok, but failed to make any arrests.

In the Rusoh district of the same province, authorities detained 17 people who were trying to flee as they showed up.

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