Five police officers manning a checkpoint in Panare district of the southern province of Pattani were injured last night when suspected insurgents detonated a motorcycle sidecar rigged with explosives.
Colonel Ekvarit Chomchuphol, deputy spokesperson for the Internal Security Operations Command’s 4th Regional Office, said that suspected insurgents parked the rigged motorcycle sidecar next to the checkpoint, where four police officers were on duty, before detonating the device remotely.
The force of the blast injured five police officers at the checkpoint, all of whom were rushed to the district hospital. It also started a fire, which damaged a number of police vehicles parked nearby.
The colonel said that a pickup truck carrying a group of men was seen leaving the scene shortly before the explosion.
Another explosion was reported in Khok Pho district of Pattani at about 4am this morning, near a paramilitary ranger outpost in Village 1 of Na Ket sub-district.
Police said that the perpetrators parked a motorcycle rigged with explosives in front of a house close to the outpost, where several motorcycles were already parked.
The rigged motorcycle was remotely detonated. Fortunately, no one was injured.
