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Associated Press

Thai authorities said on Thursday they are searching for the people responsible for an attack in the country’s troubled deep south region that killed five soldiers and injured several civilians.
About 10 attackers opened fire and threw pipe bombs at soldiers at a security checkpoint near a residential area in Narathiwat province on Wednesday evening before fleeing, according to the regional Internal Security Operations Command. Six civilians were injured during the attack, including a 10-year-old boy who remains hospitalised in stable condition.
Photos released by authorities showed a group identified as the attackers, dressed in black clothing and hats and riding on the back of a black pickup truck at around 6.45pm. Security officials said the truck was later found abandoned and set on fire about 21km (13 miles) away from the scene.
They said the attackers had stolen three AK-47 rifles, three bulletproof vests and three mobile phones from the soldiers.

Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani are Thailand’s southernmost provinces and the only ones with Muslim majorities in the predominantly Buddhist nation. Since 2004, the provinces have been the site of a Muslim separatist insurgency that has killed thousands.
Muslim residents have long complained of being treated like second-class citizens in Thailand, and separatist movements have been periodically active for decades. Heavy-handed crackdowns have fuelled the discontent. Fighting continues to this day, but at a lower level.
The Internal Security Operations Command Region 4, which oversees security operations in southern Thailand, vowed in a social media post to “expedite the investigation and search for the perpetrators with the best efforts”.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul condemned the attack, saying it was a “terrorist attack that clearly aimed at killing government officials, and a serious threat to national security,” according to government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek.

Footage aired by public broadcaster Thai PBS showed homes and properties of residents nearby were also damaged. One home had damage to its roof, windows and doors, while a motorcycle parked outside the house was destroyed. Another home had bullet holes scattered across its metal front gate.
A low-level conflict has simmered in Thailand’s southernmost provinces since 2004, killing more than 7,000 people, as rebels in the Muslim-majority region battle for greater autonomy.
In 2019, a group of Malay-Muslim separatists threw grenades and opened fire on a checkpoint in the southernmost province of Yala, killing 15 people, including local security forces, and wounding five others, according to monitor group ACLED.
Thai authorities claimed the rebel group Barisan Revolusi Nasional was responsible, ACLED said.
Chanatip Tatiyakaroonwong, a human rights researcher at Amnesty International, said that while attacks in Thailand’s deep south mostly target security personnel, the incident on Wednesday was “different in terms of death tolls and young civilians that were injured from crossfire”.
The army paid tribute to those killed on Wednesday, saying: “Their service and sacrifice will be remembered and honoured with the highest respect.”
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse


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A 10-year-old boy is among the six civilians injured when attackers open fire and throw pipe bombs at soldiers at a security checkpoint


A 10-year-old boy is among the six civilians injured when attackers open fire and throw pipe bombs at soldiers at a security checkpoint.


War and conflict

Anutin Charnvirakul

Terrorism

Amnesty International

Thailand launches manhunt after 5 soldiers killed, civilians injured in deep south

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A 10-year-old boy is among the six civilians injured when attackers open fire and throw pipe bombs at soldiers at a security checkpoint

A 10-year-old boy is among the six civilians injured when attackers open fire and throw pipe bombs at soldiers at a security checkpoint