NARATHIWAT, 4 April 2013 Officials investigating the abduction and killing of a Marine in the Deep South found an important piece of evidence that further indicates a link between the murder by suspected insurgents and the assault on a Navy base in February that resulted in the deaths of 16 insurgents.
Investigators found white cable ties at the site where the soldier’s body was discovered. The cable ties, normally used for sorting and organizing electric cables, are suspected of having been used to tie the wrists of the soldier. Police believe the abductors of the Marine was from the same group of insurgents that besieged the Navy camp, because the same type of cable ties were also found on the bodies of the insurgents killed in that incident.
Private Ma-i-la Tolu was abducted from his wife’s house at gunpoint by 8 suspected insurgents clothed in military fatigue on the night of April 1. His body was later found on the side of a road in Bacho district, Narathiwat province, with hands tied, eyes covered, and a gunshot wound to the head. The murder is believed to be in retaliation for the deaths of the 16 insurgents killed during the siege of the Navy base, in which officials were readied for a counter-offensive after a tip-off about the imminent attack.
