Police seize pipe bombs in Narathiwat

NARATHIWAT: Forty-one pipe bombs and pre-set timers seized by Narathiwat police on Thursday were meant for an attack on security officers and were likely assembled in Malaysia, local police said yesterday.

The suspect, 39-year-old Sanusee Yatae, has been held responsible for a string of violent attacks, according to the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) Region 4’s forward command spokesman, Col Pramote Prom-in.

Mr Sanusee was found to have been involved in the storming of a military outpost on Jan 19, 2011, the attack on the Cho Airong district hospital in 2016 and other violent attacks, the spokesman said.

The suspect was earlier convicted for the illegal possession of firearms and jailed for four years at Narathiwat prison. He was released in 2015.

The 41 pipe bombs were found behind a gold Izusu D-max pickup on Thursday morning. Local reports say three highway police officers had spotted the suspicious vehicle while patrolling in Tak Bai district. The truck diverted in another direction, leading to a chase.

Mr Sanusee, a resident of Narathiwat’s Rangae district, was later caught in the vehicle. The items — comprising the bombs, two communication radios, 36 boxes containing timer circuits set for five minutes each, another box of circuits set for 10 minutes, and two boxes set for 30 minutes along with four torches — were seized.

Another suspect who was inside the vehicle, 21-year-old Abdulasi Sama, managed to flee. The Tak Bai resident reportedly fled on foot along a border canal and was picked up by a motorcyclist. Police speculate he has likely fled to another country.

Col Pramote said officers had later searched the house of Mr Sanusee and found seven items used in assembling bombs. They also searched the house of Mr Abdulasi but found nothing illegal.

Inspections found that the pickup truck used to carry the explosives belonged to Usama Yatae, a younger brother of the arrested suspect, he added.

Mr Usama was earlier arrested for his involvement in an attack on security officers in 2011 and was sentenced to life imprisonment, Col Pramote said.

During an interrogation, Mr Sanusee allegedly said Mr Abdulasi had phoned to ask him to take the explosives from four men at Paluka village in tambon Khosit of Tak Bai.

The fleeing suspect wanted him to deliver the explosives to another man in Yingo district of Narathiwat, said Mr Sanusee.

Pol Lt Col Prachuap Nimruang, head of a police bomb disposal team attached to Narathiwat police headquarters, said the pipe bombs were similar to the ones used in recent violent attacks in the three southern border provinces.