NARATHIWAT : A suspected militant was killed in a clash with security forces in Rangae district early yesterday.
The clash took place around 1.30am after a joint police and military force raided an abandoned house in Ban Bairrare of Moo 6, tambon Bor Ngor.
They were acting on a tip that two suspects in a bombing which killed three police officers on Friday in Rangae were hiding there.
The men opened fire when they saw the soldiers and police officers. The two sides exchanged gunfire for about five minutes, after which one militant fled, leaving behind the body of the other.
The dead man was identified as Tuwaemarawyee Tuansulong, 30. He was wanted on three arrest warrants for violating the internal security law and the Criminal Code. A .38 pistol was found near his body. Security forces are still hunting for the other suspect.
Meanwhile, Southern Border Provinces Operations Centre commissioner Pol Lt Gen Yongyuth Charoenwanich yesterday chaired the bathing rites for two of the officers killed in Rangae.
The rites were held for Pol Lt Col Vorawut Wongjarut and Pol Lt Col Khomsan Wongwatcharabut at Khok Khian temple in Narathiwat's Muang district.
The body of the third man, Pol Sgt Manachai Pipitthong, has been taken home to tambon Tanyongmas in Rangae.
The bodies of Pol Lt Col Khomsan and Pol Lt Col Vorawut will be taken later for funeral rites in their home provinces of Trang and Amnat Charoen.
Pol Lt Col Vorawut and Pol Lt Col Khomsanm were killed in a roadside bomb blast in Rangae on Friday, while Pol Sgt Manachai, who was seriously injured, was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. The police officers had been assigned to escort teachers to Ban Khaokaew School in Rangae. They were travelling in a pickup truck on their way back to Rangae police station when the roadside bomb exploded.
Pol Lt Gen Yongyuth said the death of the three officers was a wake-up call for security officials in the deep South to review working plans and preventative measures.
Rangae police chief Pol Col Jiradet Prasawang said initial investigations indicated that a militant group led by Abdulkarim Phrae and Amran Ming was to blame for the explosion.
He said Mr Abdulkarim has expertise in bomb-making and his home is located 300m from the bomb site. Police believe Mr Abdulkarim is hiding in a warehouse in Rangae district.
Chaiyong Maneerungsakul, a member of the advisory council on administration and development of the southernmost provinces, yesterday called on police to look into the recent deaths of 10 kamnans and village chiefs in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.
Mr Chaiyong said the local officials were killed during Nov 1-15.