Attackers set five cellular towers on fire almost simultaneously in three districts of Narathiwat province on Friday night.
Police inspect one of the cellular towers set on fire in three districts of Narathiwat on Friday night.
Local police, bomb squad and forensic officers on Saturday morning inspected the sites of the attacks in Bacho, Rueso and Yi-ngo districts.
All five towers were torched between 7.15 and 7.20pm on Friday. As the attacks took place at night, police decided not to go to the scenes for fear of falling into a trap set by insurgents.
In Rueso district, two towers were torched. One of them, an AIS GSM tower at Ban Juerae in tambon Saowor, was badly damaged. Police said they believed two or three attackers climbed over the fence surrounding the tower, piled up old car tyres soaked with petrol and set them alight.
A DTAC tower at Ban Pupopulor in nearby tambon Samakkhi in Rueso district suffered minor damage. In Yi-ngo district, two DTAC towers at Ban Tala Khosator and Ban Bluka were set on fire. In Bacho district, a True Move tower in Ban Buere village was torched.
Damage to the DTAC and True Move towers was minor as local residents managed to put out the flames.