Insurgents launch multiple attacks in Narathiwat and Yala

Southern insurgents detonated explosives and burned car tyres in five districts of Narathiwat and a district of Yala province throughout Sunday night and into early Monday, to mark Malaysia’s National Day and the annual anniversary of the founding of the Bersatu movement.

Security officials and police report that two civilians were slightly injured by the explosions, on a road in Paruroo sub-district in Su-ngai Kolok district of Narathiwat at about 9.50pm last night. One car was damaged.

This was followed by six more incidents. There was property damage but no injuries.

At about 11.55pm, two explosions were reported in Janae district. One was near the Dusongyor mosque and the other at the Dusongyor market. A third blast was in front of the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperative branch in Bacho district.

Shortly after midnight, there was an explosion in front of the Cho-Airong district police station, followed by another, about half an hour later, at an ATM in front of the Ta Mayoong sub-district administrative organisation in Si Sakhon district. A second ATM, located at a petrol station in Muang district of Yala, was also hit by an explosion.

According to police records, in 2012, the Bersatu movement raised Malaysian flags and placards, attacking the Thai government, in several hundred locations in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces.

The Bersatu movement is a loose umbrella organisation comprising several separatist groups, including the BRN (Barisan Revolusi Nasionale), PULO (Pattani United Liberation Organisation) and the BIPP. It was founded on August 31s, 1989, by Dr. Wan Kadirt Che Man, a former professor at the International Islamic University of Malaysia.