Attack pinned on ‘active’ insurgents

NARATHIWAT: The weapons theft and arson at the Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary in Waeng district on Saturday night may be the work of an insurgent group active in several districts of this southern border province, according to a security source.
The group in question is led by Manso Puteh, who is wanted by the authorities in multiple violent cases. 
The source said he heads the insurgent group, which has bases in Sungai Padi, Waeng, and parts of Sungai Kolok districts. 
After the attack by at least 20 armed insurgents, the group is believed to have gone into hiding in the forest in a neighbouring country, the source added. 
Narathiwat is a province in the South that borders Malaysia.
Security forces and forest rangers have launched a joint operation to hunt down the group in Thailand’s border forest area, the source said. However, they’ve found no suspects, leading them to believe that the insurgents had crossed into a neighbouring country, the source said.
The hooded insurgents took four officials at the sanctuary hostage on Saturday night, marking the first attack at the sanctuary in 30 years.
The assailants bombed and torched four office buildings inside the sanctuary. No casualties were reported. 
Maj-Gen Chaloemporn Khamkeaw, commander of the Narathiwat Task Force, and Athaphol Charoenshunsa, director-general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation, visited the sanctuary on Monday to inspect the damage caused by the attack.
Severe damage caused by the arson and explosions was found at the park office building, three staff living quarters and garages.
According to Maj-Gen Chaloemporn, the office complex was damaged by at least three improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the first of which was detonated on Saturday and the others the following day. The office building was torn apart by the IEDs, leaving only the entrance standing.
A blast blew off the door of a compartment used for storing firearms. The assailants had tried in vain to break into the compartment using a crowbar. Each bomb, weighing about 15-20kg, was packed in a fire extinguisher cylinder and set off using a digital timer.
Maj Gen Chaloemporn added that a document cabinet was completely destroyed. 
The investigators said about a dozen government-owned firearms were reported missing after the explosions. They include shotguns and one .38 calibre pistol.
Seized as evidence were remnants of digital timers, barrels, handgun parts and leftover dynamite. They were being closely examined, said Maj Gen Chaloemporn.
Mr Athapol said police discovered at least five more bombs had been planted around the sanctuary, but Explosive Ordnance Disposal experts managed to disarm them.