Police officer, rubber tapper killed by bombs in southern Thailand

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A police bomb expert and a rubber tapper were killed in separate bomb blasts Thursday in Thailand's insurgent-troubled Muslim south, police said. The police officer died when he was called to investigate an earlier roadside explosion in the Krong Pinang district of Yala province aimed at patrolling soldiers, Police Lt. Mohamadsukree Pradom said. As police inspected the scene, a bomb went off killing one officer and injuring two soldiers, Mohamadsukree said. In a separate attack, a bomb exploded in a rubber plantation in Narathiwat province, killing a rubber tapper, Police Lt. Col. Jongjarak Pongpoa said. Police said they believed both bombs were detonated by Muslim insurgents.