PATTANI: Five border patrol police officers were injured when a motorcycle bomb went off as their truck drove over a bridge in Yaring district of this southern province on Thursday afternoon.
The bomb, hidden in the motorcycle parked on the Tanyong Dalor bridge in Yaring district, exploded when the six-wheel truck carrying the five officers from the 446th border patrol unit drove past, said Pol Col Theerapot Yindee, chief of the Yaring police station, who was alerted at 2.40pm.
The force of the explosion injured all five police.
Pol Snr Sgt Maj Preecha Khotnane, the driver of the vehicle, suffered shrapnel wounds to his head and face. The four others — Pol Lt Winai Chaichanasongkhram, Pol Snr Sgt Maj Anon Laemae, Pol Cpl Kittiphum Morakot and Pol Cpl Muhammad Musordee — suffered chest pains and ringing in their ears. They were all taken to Yaring hospital.
Police investigators believed the attack might be linked to the ongoing southern unrest.
The wreckage of a motorcycle bomb is seen on the Tanyong Dalor bridge in Yaring district of Pattani on Thursday afternoon. (Photo supplied/Abdullah Benjakat)