Unrest in the southern province of Yala continued last night as groups of armed suspects engaged in separate robberies in three districts, snatching ten firearms.
The stolen weapons included both personal and official firearms.
The first robbery happened at about 8.30pm in Krong Pinang village, Krong Pinang district. It is reported that about 15 armed suspects stormed into a local school and took two handguns and a shotgun.
Later, in Yaha district at about 9.50pm, eight armed men stole two shotguns, a handgun, and a walkie-talkie, belonging to village security officers, before escaping into the dark.
The third raid occurred in Muang Yala district at about 10.30pm, when approximately 17 men dressed in ranger uniforms sneaked into the house of a village headman in Ban Namyen village.
They restrained the headman and all village security officers before escaping with a shotgun.
At about 11.45pm, in Ban Mor village in the same district, ten armed men rounded up and tied up village security officers deployed there.
They demanded the officers’ weapons, but no one had any, so the suspects left empty-handed.
The violence in the deep south intensified in January 2004, when insurgents raided an army depot in Narathiwat province and escaped with 413 official firearms.
