PATTANI: Two insurgents were shot dead and another wanted militant arrested by security forces in Pattani’s Sai Buri district on Wednesday morning.
A joint police and military team surrounded a house in Ban Cho Bo in tambon Pan around 3.30am after a sting operation led to the house being identified as an insurgent hideout.
The house owner was contacted and told them two men from Narathiwat's Tak Bai district were in the house. The village chief and head of the local mosque were called to help and asked the two men to step outside and surrender, but there was no response.
Rifle shots were fired from the house at the security team about 6.30am. The two sides exchanged gunfire for almost half an hour, and then the house fell silent.
Pol Lt Gen Ronnasil Phusara, acting commander of Police Region 9, led a team inside and found two dead men. They were identified as Gadafi Tamasae and Aliya Dahamae, 28, who was wanted on an arrest warrant issued under emergency decree for planting bombs and shooting at rangers in Sai Buri district.
Another man identified as Mahamasamri Tamae, 24, was also arrested.
Officials said he is a wanted man, an insurgent operative named in an arrest warrant issued under emergency decree and in 15 warrants under the Crimes Act.
Bullet holes show clearly on the wall of the house where two men were shot dead during a firefight with a security team in Pattani on Wednesday morning. (Photo by Abdulloh Benjakat)