One suspect in the car bombing incident in front of Bannang Sata police flats has been detained after being found to be involved in using an official vehicle to assemble the bomb.
This morning, a car bomb was planted in front of the police flats of Bannang Sata Police Station, within the Bannang Sata Municipality, Bannang Sata District, Yala Province. The incident occurred in front of the fence of the police flats, which are adjacent to the flats of the administrative officers. Opposite are the Bannang Sata Police Station and the Bannang Sata District Office. The force of the explosion caused a loud noise, visible smoke and flames. One person was killed, identified as Ms. Rokiyah, 45, a teacher at a local Tadika school. Villagers and police officers were injured, a total of 34 people, including 23 police officers and 3 boys, including a 9-month-old boy. Government and public property, cars, motorcycles, and electric poles were also damaged over a large area.
After the incident, Pol. Col. Thawee Sodsong, Mi
nister of Justice, along with Pol. Lt. Gen. Piyawat Chalermsri, Commander of Provincial Police Region 9, Mr. Amphon Phongsuwan, Governor of Yala Province, and Pol. Lt. Col. Wanpong Kotcharak, Secretary-General of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center (SBPAC), went to inspect the scene. Pol. Col. Thawee revealed that he had assigned the task of taking care of the affected people to the fullest extent possible. The deceased was a female teacher in Bannang Sata District who died while traveling to buy food to prepare for students at school. Several people were injured. The province has now been assigned to open a compensation center to receive reports of damages and expresses condolences for the incident.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Piyawat Chalermsri, Commander of Provincial Police Region 9, revealed that it is now known that the car used by the perpetrators to commit the car bomb is a government vehicle, a blue 4-door pickup truck belonging to the Tharatho Subdistrict Administrative Organization. The perpetra
tors used the improvised explosive device to pack it into a 16-kg gas tank, filled with cut steel bars and explosives, weighing a total of over 80 kg, along with 2 gallons of oil to expand the force of the bomb. The detonation was set by setting a timer. The perpetrators chose the location of the incident, which was on the road between government offices, both the Bannang Sata Police Station and the Bannang Sata District Office, with a police officer’s apartment building and a government officer’s apartment building next to each other. They chose a time when there were a lot of people because on the day and time of the incident, there was a market only 50 meters away from the scene. From the investigation, it is known that one of the perpetrators left the bomb-making vehicle there before another perpetrator rode a motorcycle to pick him up, and about 10 minutes later, the explosion occurred.
Recently, it was reported that officials had taken control of one of the suspects, an assistant technician of Than To
Subdistrict Administrative Organization, Yala Province, after finding out that he had a connection and that it was the Subdistrict Administrative Organization where the culprits used a car to assemble a bomb. But no related details have been revealed yet.
After the car bomb incident, the authorities have taken action to bring police officers, car patrols, motorcycle patrols, and traffic police to increase the intensity of prevention and maintenance of peace and order in Betong Municipality, Betong District, Yala Province, setting up checkpoints in the area and patrolling, focusing on economic and commercial areas, service and entertainment venues, and crowded places.
For this car bomb incident, it is the first in 2024. Previously, the statistics of car bombs have been continuously decreasing. In 2016, there were 8 incidents, in 2017, 6 incidents, in 2018, none, in 2019, 2 incidents, in 2020 – 2022, there were 1 incident per year, in 2023, there were no car bombs, and the latest is this one
Source: Thai Ne
ws Agency
