YALA, 12 October 2013 The Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) Region 4 Forward Command has established a center to control and counteract explosive devices, to help with the situation in the Deep South.
Colonel Raphatsakun Rotthip, deputy spokesperson to the ISOC, told reporters there is an increasing trend for bomb attacks in the southern border provinces. 126 explosive devices had been destroyed during fiscal year 2013, and 187 bomb craters were found.
For fiscal year 2013, the center for counteracting and controlling explosive devices will be set up under direct supervision of the ISOC Region 4 Forward Command. The center will gather information related to places suspected of being used to store explosives, and individuals with behaviors relating to bomb-making. This will enable legal measures to be taken against importers of materials that are used to make the improvised explosive devices. The center will be located at the main police base in Yala because of the readily available personnel and equipment there.
According the Colonel Raphatsakun, work at the center will be divided into 3 main categories, dealing with regulation of permits for explosive materials purchasing, regulation of garages, junk shops or electronic stores that could be utilized as bomb-making sites, and operations by police and the military to regulate transportation of fertilizers.
