YALA - Three policemen were killed and two others wounded when a bomb exploded under their vehicle in Krong Pinang district, Yala, on Friday.
Seven police from Krong Pinang were travelling on two pickup trucks along a local road in Ban Benya, ferreting out information on drug gangs and militants, when a bomb placed in a drainage pipe under the road was detonated about 10.30am.
The explosion hit the second truck, a white Isuzu, which was blown in half.
An estimated seven gunmen then opened fire from the side of the road at the first truck, a black Mitsubishi Triton, which carried the other members of the patrol including the leader, a lieutenant.
The ambush prevented the men helping their colleagues in the bombed truck. The militants stole three M4 rifles and three pistols from them before fleeing.
The explosion left a crater four metres wide and one metre deep. Pieces of the 15-kilogramme gas cylinder that housed the explosives, an electronic circuit board and a wire about 100 metres long were left at the scene.
Police estimated the size of the bomb at 80kg and believed the attackers were members of a separatist group led by Hubaideelah Rommuelee which is active in the area.
The dead men were identified as Pol Cpl Nathapong Chartdam, 28, Pol L/Cpl Suriya Nunim, 32, and Pol L/Cpl Atthapol Luathep. The injured are Pol Cpl Siriwat Yotha, 30, and Pol L/Cpl Naruebet Muannoi, 25.
Yala police were hunting the attackers.
The huge crater left by the bomb that killed three policemen and wounded two others in on a road in Ban Benya village, Krong Pinang district of Yala. (Photo by Muhammad Ayub Pathan)
Reuters video
