NARATHIWAT: Security forces have found and destroyed new forms of explosives using a refrigerant cannister and an electric water boiler in Bacho district.
A marine unit checked a rubber plantation in Ban Yato village of tambon Bareh Nuea at about 9pm late Wednesday night after local residents reported suspicious movements there.
The officials combed the area and found two freshly covered pits about 10 metres apart. After digging them, they discovered the refrigerant canister filled with 30kg of explosive compounds in one pit and a hot-water canister which held about 15kg of the material in the other pit. The officials destroyed the bombs with high-pressure water.
At the scene, Capt Santi Ketsipongsa, commander of the Paramilitary Marine Regiment, said authorities identified a group of suspects who had buried the bombs there, possibly for a planned attack, and they were being hunted.
Officials said that southern militants apparently turned to refrigerant canisters and eletric kettles to hold explosive compounds instead of cooking gas cylinders. The government had earlier announced it would replace metal gas cylinders used by households and restaurants in the far South with fibreglass ones for security reasons.
