Eight soldiers injured in bombing attack by suspected southern Thai insurgents
Improvised bomb placed on roadside power pole.
NARATHIWAT: Eight soldiers were reportedly injured in a roadside explosion believed to be the work of insurgents in the restive southern Thai province of Narathiwat on Thursday (Sept. 26).
The improvised bomb was tied to a power pole on the side of a local road in Ban Hulu Pare in tambon Tanyongmat in Rangae district, the Bangkok Post reported.
It was detonated as a military pickup truck carrying the soldiers drove past.
The force of the blast toppled the power pole and shattered the truck’s windshield and windows as well as injured the soldiers, who were later rushed to Rangae Hospital.
The soldiers from the 4805 Ranger Task Force were out gathering wood to build a makeshift camp when the attack occurred, the report said, citing security authorities, who believed insurgents active in the area had carried out the attack.
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Meanwhile, security forces were on alert after surveillance cameras at three locations in tambon Paku in Thung Yang Daeng district, Pattani province, were stolen, the Bangkok Post reported further.
The cameras were removed from a football field and from the Ban Paku and Ban Sai Khao intersections between 3pm on Sept 23 and 6pm on Sept 24.
The cameras might have been taken by someone planning an attack on security forces in the southern province, prompting authorities to devise preventive measures, the report stated, quoting a local security source.
Southern Thai insurgency has been ongoing for two decades and primarily affects the neighbouring provinces of Yala, Narathiwat, and Pattani.
A report by Deep South Watch, a non-profit organisation monitoring the conflict in Thailand’s southern border provinces, stated there have been over 22,200 incidents of violence in the region beginning in January 2004, BenarNews reported.
The report also found that 7,540 people have been killed and 14,021 injured over the last two decades.
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