BANGKOK, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Thai Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwon on Thursday ordered the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) to immediately provide assistance to the victims in the shooting and bombing attacks in Yala's Yaha district in southern Thailand on Wednesday.
Prawit also ordered the 4th Army Region commander Lt Gen Pornsak Poolsawat to speed up investigation to find the culprits.
Local residents were also asked to report any irregularity and provide tip-offs to security officials.
Meanwhile Lt Gen Pornsak told the media that he has instructed security agencies to carry out intelligence on the movement of suspected insurgents and to beef up security to prevent violence.
Wednesday's gun attack and a bomb blast saw a ranger and local villager killed, while four others injured.
Initially, it was believed that the attacks were the work of those who lost interest and wanted to discredit the government, said Lt Gen Pornsak.
The 4th Army Region commander said he has already collected the intelligence report on the Wednesday killings but was unable to reveal it to the media as it may sabotage ISOC's work.
Yala, together with Narathiwat and Pattani, are the three southernmost provinces that have been haunted by violent attacks by separatists since 2004.
There have been over 9,900 violent incidents since 2004, including bombings, ambushes and arson attacks while more than half of the slain victims were civilians, reports said.
The conflict has killed more than 6,500 in the past more than a decade.
