The Pattani Provincial Court has sentenced five southern insurgents to death after finding them guilty of shooting dead four soldiers and seriously wounding two others two years ago.
A security camera captures the insurgent attack on six soldiers patrolling Pattani’s Mayo district on July 28, 2012. About 16 attackers in three pickup trucks killed four officers and wounded two others.
The court passed judgement on Wednesday in the case against five men involved in the attack in Mayo district of Pattani on July 28, 2012.
The five insurgents are Ismae Daong, Masahafi Metor, Kodeh Jaetae, Nimuhammad Niseng and Isbulor Buesa.
After a four-hour trial attended by at least 20 relatives and friends of the defendants, the court handed down the death sentence.
Upon hearing the verdict, some of the relatives burst into tears.
The attack occurred on the morning of July 28, 2012. A group of 18 armed men on board three pickup trucks opened fire on six members of a military patrol. The soldiers were riding on three motorcycles along the Mayo-Ban Palas route in tambon Krawae in Mayo district, on a routine patrol to provide protection for teachers and local residents, when they were attacked.
The fusillade of gunfire killed four soldiers on the spot, and the two others were seriously injured. The attackers stole four M16 assault rifles, radio transmitters and armour vests from their victims before fleeing.
Security authorities on Thursday ordered all units in Pattani to tighten security, particularly at government offices and schools, to prevent possible acts of revenge following the court sentencing.
In Sai Buri district of Pattani, police said on Thursday that insurgent slogans -- "Our Pattani" and "Hey Siam, return the land" - had been found spray painted at two locations this morning, a bridge and a concrete barrier in tambon Tabing. They were in Yawi, the southern provinces' Malay dialect, with translations in Thai
Police believed it was the work of sympathisers of the insurgents.