Thai DPM:Four killed in deep South are unlikely insurgents

BANGKOK, January 31 (TNA) - Thai Deputy Prime Minister General Yuthasak Sasiprapa has ordered the governor of Pattani Province in the deep South and the 4th army area commander to quickly investigate paramilitary rangers’ gun attack on a pick-up truck in Pattani's Nongjik District recently, confirming that justice will be served for the sake of order. General Yuthasak told reporters Tuesday that the Pattani governor and the 4th army area chief had been assigned to probe whether the rangers followed official regulations on use of forces, noting that the rangers might do wrong because the four villagers were proven not to be suspected insurgents. According to the deputy premier, there were nine people on the truck, but one of them had just jumped on it; so, it was possible that a suspected insurgent might use eight other innocent villagers as human shields, as before the rangers’ action, motorcyclists fired three shots at the rangers’ base and later one motorcyclist got on the pick-up truck in an escape attempt. The deputy prime minister said that local villagers have suspected soldiers of leaving a gun on the truck but the soldiers have denied the accusation, and that the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) is, however, developing the integrated use of its forces to improve security operations in the restive South. The deputy premier also assumed that recent attacks on the Nongjik Police Station and three houses in Nongjik could be related actions and authorities are tracing culprits. (TNA)