NARATHIWAT: Insurgents detonated a roadside bomb as a ranger patrol passed by in Rueso district on Thursday morning, but the blast dissipated into the forest instead and no soldiers were hurt.
The five rangers, from the 46th regiment, were providing security for teachers at local schools.
They noticed a suspicious fertiliser bag near a bridge and went to inspect it, Pol Lt Tanit Wuthicha, deputy investigator of Reuso district police, said.
The bag proved empty, but as the rangers moved away from it a bomb buried in the ground exploded. The angle of the blast missed the soldiers, instead spreading out towards the forest. No one was injured.
The explosion left a crater 30 centimetres deep and 1.2 metres wide, and peppered the area with bomb debris and shrapnel.
An explosive ordnance disposal team sent to the scene made sure there were no other bombs hidden in the area.
The bomb weighed 10-15 kilogrammes and was placed inside a metal container that was buried at the scene, he said. It was detonated by a wireless device.
