Authorities in Thailand’s Songkhla province during the weekend tightened security in Hat Yai and Sadao districts following a series of bomb and shooting attacks along rail routes in the three southernmost provinces.
The attacks occurred almost simultaneously at six locations in three provinces of Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat at around 8pm on Friday (April 14) – the final day of the holy month of Ramadan. No casualties were reported in any of the incidents.
Col Thanitpon Hongvilai, commander of the 5th infantry regiment and its Thep Satri special task force, inspected the border near Malaysia while army and border police forces responsible for the Thai-Malaysia border area have also been deployed to suppress any illegal entry via natural channels.
Police and officials will also patrol along rail routes from Hat Yai to Padang Besar, a border town in the Sadao district of Songkhla, to ensure safety before resuming train operations.
The southern insurgency, causing nearly 6,500 deaths since 2004, has largely been confined to provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, of which Songkhla’s city of Hat Yai was the target of deadly bombing in September 2006, May 2007, and May 2014. – Vietnam News/ANN
Source: The Star
