Yala hit by new bombings

YALA, December 27 (TNA) - A senior Thai army troop in a teacher protection unit was killed and another was wounded in a fresh bomb attack in Yala Province Tuesday, when an assistant village headman was also seriously wounded in a shooting at a teashop in the southernmost Thai province. Bomb and forensic experts inspecting the scene at a bridge in Baan Kakong of Yaha District found a motorcycle owned by the dead soldier of the teacher protection unit under the 14th Yala Special Task Force lying on the street along with several types of cartridge cases used by a team of Thai troops in a gunfire against suspected insurgents. The investigators also detected a 100x80-centimetre hold and a metal bomb container initially presumed to have stored a remote–controlled explosive device weighing about five kilograms. The roadside bomb took place when the dead soldier, Sergeant Major 1st Class Pradit Saranatri, head of the teacher protection unit of Baan Katong School, led his six-member team riding on motorcycles to provide security for teachers travelling to the school. Sergeant Major 1st Class Pradit and Private Yutthana Daraporn were wounded in the bombing incident but the former was later pronounced dead after succumbing to his severe wounds. In another fresh violence, an assistant village headman, identified as 47-year-old Rormuelee Maseng, was seriously wounded in a shooting at a teashop in Yala’s Betong District. Investigations in both cases by local police are continuing. (TNA)