4 soldiers, a civilian hurt in ambush

4 soldiers, a civilian hurt in ambush

Spate of gun attacks continue in South

Four soldiers and a civilian were injured when heavily-armed men opened fire on a pickup truck in Narathiwat's Si Sakhon district yesterday.

The gun attack took place at 9.40am on Ban Dahong-Ban Biloh road in tambon Choengkhiri when the pickup truck, carrying four rangers, was passing through an "ambush zone", according to local authorities.

Investigations revealed that the truck, driven by Sgt Thanakorn Tannisai, 40, was heading to a fresh market in Si Sakhon district when gunmen, hiding in the forest, opened fire.

Sgt Thanakorn and three others in the vehicle, Sgt Wissanu Muasantat, Kamchorn Tanma and Wissanu Chamnanna, both volunteer rangers, were wounded. A female rubber tapper, who was passing by, was hit by a stray bullet and injured slightly.

The pickup truck was riddled with holes and many rounds of spent shells from M16 rifles were found at the ambush scene.

Shortly after the gun attack, a bomb went off about two kilometres from the shooting scene while a unit of rangers was moving in to secure the area for examination, authorities said.

The bomb was detonated when one of the rangers got out of a vehicle to talk to a resident. They were slightly injured but complained of ringing in ears and discomfort in their chests.

The gun and bomb attacks yesterday came amid a spate of violent attacks in several areas in Narathiwat since Monday night.

The series of attacks prompted authorities to beef up security in the deep South provinces. National police chief, Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda, said militants exploit festive periods such as Christmas to stir conflict and turmoil and boast about the potential of their networks.

"Those behind the latest attacks could be a new insurgent group operating in Yala," he told media yesterday, adding security measures are in force to ward off potential threats across the deep South during New Year.

On Monday night, several checkpoints in Narathiwat were attacked by gunmen. A checkpoint near a bypass, which leads to Chat Warin Waterfall in Narathiwat, was attacked at 9.55pm on Monday while police were searching vehicles. Gunmen fired shots at a military checkpoint operated by the 4812 Rangers unit. Attackers also set a telecom tower on fire and felled trees to block roads.

At another checkpoint, another group, armed with assault rifles, exchanged fire for 20 minutes with soldiers, and two M-79 grenades were fired at an army watchtower, but missed the target. The attackers scattered nails on the road 400 metres from the checkpoint before escaping. Spent cartridges from M16 rifles and M-79 grenades were found at the scene. A blue tupperware container, loaded with firecrackers, was also exploded, probably as a decoy while they made their escape, officials said. No soldiers, police or civilians were injured.

In Sungai Padi district, a Dtac telecom tower was destroyed when attackers set tyres ablaze. Roads linking Sungai Kolok and Sungai Padi were also blocked by burning tyres and chopped-down trees.

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