Two rangers died and one was seriously injured yesterday when a bomb similar to one that killed two soldiers earlier this month exploded in Yala province.
Pakasit Rakphan and Chatchai Lohithan died in the 4.30pm explosion which occurred while a Ranger Task Force 47 team were on patrol near Samakkhi School in Kato, in Yala district's tambon Patae. The injured ranger was not identified.
A bomb-disposal team examining the scene said the device was stuffed in a gas cylinder and buried next to a tree near a canal.
The bomb was similar to one which exploded on Aug 4 in a rubber plantation near Padae Daeru in Yaha district, killing two rangers.
A bathing rite for the dead was scheduled to be held today at 9am at Wat Phuthaphum in Yala's Muang district. The bodies of the soldiers would then be transported by plane to their home towns in Prachuap Khiri Khan and Ubon Ratchathani provinces.
A source in the investigation team said the authorities were focusing their attention on Hubai Delah Rommueli and Sa-udi Satapo, two core leaders of an insurgent group in the area.
The investigators suspect the bomb attack was the work of militants controlled by Hubai.
Yesterday's attack came as security agencies closely monitored the activities of the Patani Liberation Army (PLA) which is reportedly recruiting and training insurgents to perpetrate further acts of violence in the far South.
The PLA is believed by security and intelligence agencies to be linked to New Pulo, a splinter group of southern separatists who broke away from the Patani United Liberation Organisation, or Pulo.
New Pulo comprises two factions — one led by Gustury Magota and the other by Samsuding Khan — both of which have been excluded from the peace talks process between authorities and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional.
The number of active PLA fighters is not known. Several militant suspects arrested in connection with a string of attacks in the far South have admitted they were members of the PLA, according to security sources.