#Thailand - Detained TAO chief ‘not involved’ in Pattani bombing, released.

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The chief of a Tambon Organisation Administration (TAO) has been released after investigation showed he had no involvement in the attack at the Big C department store in Pattani province last week, a source said on Sunday.

The identity of the TAO chief in Pattani’s Nong Chik district was never publicly revealed.

He was detained after the attack on May 9, which injured 80 people.

The source said that seven people, including a religious leader – Su-hai-mee Sama-e – and five other local residents had been detained for interrogation for alleged links to the robbery of a pickup and the killing of the vehicle’s owner.

On May 13, five youths were detained in Nong Chik district after they were found near a spot where suspect Su-hai-mee allegedly rigged a stolen pickup with explosives.

Sourse - TheNation

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#Thailand - Dozens injured in Pattani double bomb blasts.

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Many children among casualties; ‘mass killing’ cited as motive
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ABOUT 50 people were injured by a huge car bomb outside a department store in Pattani in the deep South yesterday afternoon that also caused widespread damage.
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The bombers used a common tactic in the insurgency – triggering a small initial explosive inside the Big C department store, which sent shoppers running outside in panic, before the second bomb concealed in a pickup parked at an entrance door was detonated. The first bomb also seemed intended to distract authorities ahead of the second much bigger blast.
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The attack took place at the store in Muang district at about 2.30pm, a time when the store was crowded with parents and children looking for school items including uniforms in preparation for the new semester.
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Among the dozens of people injured in the blasts were store staff, at least one of whom was seriously hurt, as well as many children.
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Colonel Pramote Prom-in, spokesman of the regional Internal Security Operations Command, said the bombers seemed intent on “mass killing”. 

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 “The bombers parked the pickup in front of the entrance of the store, clearly showing their intention of mass killing. However, the suspicious vehicle was spotted and people were evacuated from the area in time before the second explosion,” Pramote said.

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Source - TheNation + More Photos 

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