NARATHIWAT: About 20 armed men took four officials hostage, stole firearms and bombed and torched four buildings at the office of the Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary in Waeng district Saturday night.
Attapon Charoenchansa, director-general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, said four sanctuary officials were captured in their living quarters while the black-clad and heavily armed attackers, with faces covered, bombed and torched the sanctuary office complex.
The detention and destruction lasted for about 50 minutes. Some personnel were able to flee the scene and reached a nearby village to call for help.
Security personnel rushed to the scene in an armoured vehicle and found the attackers already gone.
Officials found that a firearms cabinet at the centre’s office was broken and all the guns had disappeared. One of the destroyed buildings was a tourist bungalow.
The Crime Suppression Division said the attack took place at the office in tambon Loh Jut at about 5.45pm on Saturday and about 10 guns were taken. Government vehicles in the parking lot were also burnt there.
Local people said that it was the first attack at the sanctuary office in 30 years. The attack hurt the feelings of local residents because the sanctuary functioned as a learning centre on the life of hornbills.
