Yala Governor orders reinforcement at military base after attack

YALA, March 10 - Yala Governor Decharat Simsiri on Saturday ordered defensive reinforcements at Raman district's defense volunteer base after presumed insurgents attacked the base Friday night, killing two defense volunteers and robbing seven guns from the camp.

The governor and Raman district chief officer Somkiat Srisanet visited the site after the violent attack. Mr Decharat expressed his condolences and gave moral support to volunteers.

Forces should be more focused during weekly Muslim prayer sessions on Fridays when there are usually less people at the base, he noted, while adding security agencies had been asked for cooperating, informing local patrol units in advance and clearly displaying badges of their departments for safety reasons.

According to footage from a close-circuited camera, gunmen dressed in police uniforms with bulletproof vests came to the base for the attack and robbery in three pickup trucks with wording on the side of the vehicles indicating they belonged to a local police station.

The governor said he has told the local forces to be more alert and step up security measures to protect their bases because insurgents were likely to take the opportunity to attack when security measures were lax, particularly when there were fewer soldiers on base during Friday praying time.

Meanwhile, in nearby Narathiwat province, a former assistant village head was shot dead at Yi-ngo district by presumed insurgents in a pickup truck while buying rubber sheets from neighbours.

Asha Ta-ye, 29, was severely wounded before passing away.

An initial investigation reported that one of the gunmen shot the victim twice with a shotgun. Mr Asha's friends escaped into rubber plantations.

Local authorities believed the incident was one of the daily situations created by local presumed insurgents. (MCOT online news)
Source: http://www.mcot.net/cfcustom/cache_page/340184.html