Soldier killed, four others injured in southern Thai terror attack
Homemade bomb explodes and flips over their armoured vehicle.
NARATHIWAT: One soldier was reportedly killed while four others injured in a terror attack in southern Thailand on Monday (Feb. 12).
Group leader Chaidee Yaena and four other defence force volunteers were in an armoured vehicle traveling along a road when a planted explosive device was detonated on the highway in Narathiwat province.
One volunteer identified as Attaporn Prateep died from severe injuries, The Victoria Advocate reported.
Police Colonel Narawee reportedly said that the incident is suspected to have been carried out by members of extremist groups, and the others named have been critically injured.
Police also found scraps of a homemade bomb at the scene believed to be fashioned out of a gas cylinder.
NEW SEA MILITANCY EXCLUSIVE: ‘Foreign Islamic State spokesman - possibly Syrian - speaks from Mindanao’
“I was leading the squad and we were driving from Chanae District Office to Changpuak Municipality to obtain a tent for the district office,” Chaidee was quoted as saying.
“When we were passing through the scene, the bomb was suddenly detonated. The explosion caused the armoured vehicle to bounce off the road and flip sideways.”
The conflict in the southernmost provinces of Thailand has been ongoing since the 1960s, with separatist groups fighting for independence from increasingly Buddhist-led Thai governments.
The conflict has resulted in over 7,300 deaths and 13,600 injuries between January 2004 and March 2022.