NARATHIWAT: The operations base of a security unit in tambon Kayukhla of Waeng district came under harassing gunfire on Sunday night by insurgents who also detonated a land mine to deter reinforcements, police said.
Pol Col Jeffrey Salaimankul, the Waeng police chief, said the base is located behind Ban Mai Fat School at Moo 8 in tambon Kayukhla.
Elias Abdulmayi, chief of the tambon security unit, said the insurgents attacked about 8.20pm, opening fire on the base with military-grade weapons.
Defence volunteers manning the unit returned fire. They exchanged shots for about five minutes and then the attackers retreated into nearby rubber plantations. There were no casualties but some of the shelters were damaged. About 20 spent M16 assault rifle shells were found near the gunmen's positions
On hearing the gunfire, an army unit at Ban Suan Maprao in tambon Sungai Kolok, about two kilometres away on the Sungai Kolok-Waeng road, dispatched a patrol in a pickup truck to the tambon security base to investigate.
On the way, an insurgent bomb planted on the roadside detonated. The explosion left a crater about 60 centimetres deep and 120cm wide, but caused no casualties.
Pol Col Jeffrey led a team of bomb disposal and forensic police to the scene on Monday morning.