NARATHIWAT: A suspected insurgent was killed on Saturday in Sri Sakhon district in an exchange of fire with military rangers hunting down a group of assailants who had ambushed and killed a local resident a day earlier.
Police, soldiers and bomb disposal officers found the insurgent, identified later as Issama-ae Mahnu, of Sungai Padi district in Narathiwat, lying dead in a rubber plantation.
His body was found about 500 metres away from the spot where Anan Khongmanee, a local resident, was shot dead on Friday.
A criminal record check showed Issama-ae had six outstanding warrants for a string of attacks in Sri Sakhon and nearby districts. Investigators said he was held responsible for a fatal shooting attack on a military patrol providing protection for teachers in Sri Sakhon on April 23, 2009, in which three soldiers were shot dead and one injured.
Anan, 59, was attacked on a road at Aiyaeng village, Moo 3 in Sri Sakhon district on Friday afternoon. Before the attack, he and six friends had ridden motorcycles to a nearby forest to hunt wild animals. They returned from the forest with one wild boar and were on the way home, with Anan riding at the head of the group. Suddenly, a group of assailants opened fire from a roadside ambush, shooting Anan, said police.
The six others abandoned their bikes and used their shotguns to fire back. After a brief gunfight, the assailants fled. The six villagers went to see Anan, but he was dead. They then alerted police.
A team of military rangers was sent to hunt down the assailants shortly after the attack. The two sides clashed. The gunfire subsided on Friday night, but officers were wary of entering the rubber plantation. They waited until morning to clear the site and found the dead insurgent.