NARATHIWAT - Suspected insurgents launched a series of coordinated attacks in Tak Bai district of this southern border province in the early hours of Saturday, police said.
An improvised explosive device (IED), assembled inside a fire extinguisher cylinder, was detonated outside a gold shop in tambon Chehe, causing damage to the front part of the shop, said Pol Lt Col Jarukit Sridech, the acting chief of the Tak Bai police station, who was alerted at 1.30am.
He said a group of unidentified gunmen also opened fire at a security checkpoint, about 50 metres from the gold shop. This prompted seven officers stationed there to fire back at the attackers, leading to a gun battle that lasted more than 30 minutes. The gunmen fled into a nearby forest after reinforcements arrived.
Officers later received a report that a roadside bombing destroyed a power pole about 200m metres from the checkpoint. They also discovered an explosive device placed beneath a power pole on the opposite side of the road.
On Saturday morning, villagers alerted the police when they found two more IEDs along a local road in tambon Chehe, and authorities cordoned off the area.
Many power poles fell on roads, blocking traffic lanes, in Narathiwat. (Photo supplied)
Later, police were later alerted to another roadside bombing in Tak Bai's tambon Khosit. The explosion caused 10 power poles to collapse, blocking traffic temporarily.
In tambon Muno in Sungai Kolok district of Narathiwat, Pol Col Direk Chomyong, the acting chief of the Muno police station, reported two incidents on Saturday morning - a homemade bomb was detonated and damaged a power pole in a village, and a bombing device hidden in a fire extinguisher was found beneath another power pole.
The situation is still under investigation, he said.
The incidents occurred on the eve of the 19th anniversary of the Tak Bai massacre on Oct 25, 2004, in which 85 protesters suffocated after being arrested and piled up on top of each other in two military trucks while being transported to a military camp in Pattani province.