Separate incidents of violent assaults occurred yesterday in Thailand’s southern provinces of Pattani and Narathiwat, leading to one dying and two accidents. Armed gunmen focused a police operations base in Muang district, Pattani province, whereas a pickup truck carrying villagers was ambushed in Narathiwat province.
The assault on the police base in Pattani occurred at around 7am in Ban Khlong Maning, when insurgents launched a gunfire assault utilizing numerous weapons. Police officers on the base retaliated, leading to a brief exchange of fireplace before the attackers withdrew. Kickstart , no casualties had been reported on this incident. As a result of the attack, heightened safety measures had been carried out at highway checkpoints, with elevated scrutiny of vehicles passing through, reported Bangkok Post.
In a separate incident, occurring around 5pm in Narathiwat province, a gaggle of armed males ambushed a pickup truck carrying four villagers as they returned from looking in a forest near Ban Hulu Kunung, in Tambon Dusongso, Chanae district. One villager was killed and two others had been injured within the assault, with the injured later being admitted to Chanae Hospital for treatment. The fourth villager, Noppadol Damsakul, who emerged unscathed, reported the incident to a ranger firm in Tambon Dusongyo.
Local authorities are currently investigating the connections between the two incidents and whether the attack on the pickup truck is expounded to the continuing southern insurgency.
A week ago, one other assault on a railway checkpoint in Pattani province left a 22 yr previous officer dead, as unidentified assailants believed to be separatist militants, fired shots and stole a gun. Security forces at the second are hunting for the perpetrators along their escape routes..