A policeman was killed and over 40 other people were injured in a bomb attack at Muang Pattani police station and a car bomb that exploded in a nearby parking lot.
Earlier this morning, two assailants on a motorcycle lobbed a grenade into Muang Pattani police station, where over 60 policemen, including station superintendent Police Colonel Poonsak Prasertmet, were gathering for a daily national anthem salute.
Medical staff from Pattani Hospital rushed to the station to help officers who were critically injured. Among them was Police Major Koomatna Benjamana.
He and 43 other injured officers were transferred to Pattani and Yala hospitals.
A latest report confirmed that Police Senior Sergeant Major Somphong Kongdum suffered fatal wounds from bomb shrapnel.
Police said an M-67 grenade used in the attack left a 30-centimeter wide crater and damaged three vehicles.
Meanwhile, about 50 meters from the station on Pattani Pirom Road, a car bomb went off in a parking lot which left four injured, damaged nearby businesses and set parked cars on fire. Pattani's fire department prevented the flames from engulfing other vehicles in the parking lot.
Police believe that the bomber placed a 20-kilogram homemade bomb under the car.
Police have notified their forces to close off routes leading out of Muang Pattani district and have begun reviewing security camera footage in an effort to identify the assailant.
Police also believe that those who bombed Muang Pattani police station and the parking lot were from the same insurgent group.
By: TAN network
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