SONGKHLA: Security has been increased to the maximum level in the commercial hub of Hat Yai and four border districts of this southern province in anticipation of possible violence.
The move followed attacks on the homes of police officers late Friday in Thepha district of the southern province. They are believed to be linked to gun attacks and tyre fires in neighbouring Pattani province, and an arson attack that caused heavy damage to a department store and other properties in Narathiwat.
Authorities in Songkhla are said to have information that souhern insurgents could be planning violent attacks on Tuesday, said a security source who asked not to be identified. It was not immediately clear why that day had been chosen. Consequently, they have imposed maximum security in Chana, Thepha, Na Thawi and Saba Yoi districts as well as Hat Yai.
On Friday night, a group of armed men opened fire on two houses belonging to police officers in Thepha district, injuring one member of an officer's family. The attacks occurred simultaneously and were captured on closed-circuit television.
In the first attack, six men on three motorcycles fired at the house of Pol Lt Col Suwit Niewthong, a retired officer, on Phetkasem Road on the Khok Pho-Lamphai route in Thepha district at around 7.35pm. Supanat Niewthong, son of the officer, was injured by broken glass that struck his right arm.
Shortly afterward, the same attackers opened fire at the shophouse of Pol Snr Sgt Maj Somsak Lapwong, of the Huay Pling police station, on Phetkasem Road. The officer, who was inside the shophouse selling groceries, was unhurt.
Footage from the security camera captured the attackers fleeing toward Khok Pho district of Pattani.
A security officer who declined to be named said the attacks that took place in Songkhla, Pattani and Narathiwat were orchestrated by insurgents wanting to retaliate for the recent arrests of nine insurgents and the seizure of bomb-making materials and documents used to incite unrest in Pattani.
