YALA -- A man was killed and three other people slightly wounded when two M79 rounds exploded in front of a mosque and at a nearby house in Bannang Sata district on Monday night.
Police investigators and an explosive ordnance disposal team on Tuesday morning were despatched to investigate the attack, which occurred about 8pm.
The first M79 grenade landed about 10 metres in front of the central mosque of Moo 2 village in tambon Bannang Sata, opposite the district police station, at kilometre marker 38 on Highway 410 (Yala-Betong).
The explosion left a small crater in the ground and wounded four people -- Abdulromae Totayong, 65, Imron Sakho, 17, Sola-uddin Sakho, 20, and an 11-year-old boy Fisol Sakho. They were taken to Yala Hospital where Abdulromae was declared dead on arrival.
Just a few seconds after the first explosion, a second M79 grenade landed on the roof of the house of Mayaki Benmuslim, 60, near the mosque. The grenade penetrated into the bedroom of Mayaki's daughter Nussari, 15, and exploded. The house was damaged, but nobody was hurt.
Police believed the M79 rounds were fired by at least two men from the right bank of the Pattani River in tambon Bacho.
The Bannang Sata police station had earlier been targeted for M79 attacks at least six times. Those occasions the grenades damaged village houses but did not hit the police station or the district office nearby.
Last night's attack was attributed to separatist insurgents, who have stepped up their activity during Ramadan.