PATTANI — A coordinated gun attack on a military checkpoint in the restive province of Pattani left four security officers dead, the army said Wednesday.
The raid took place at about 9pm Tuesday at a roadblock manned by soldiers and armed volunteers in central Pattani. Security camera footage shows over a dozen masked men throwing grenades and shooting at the security officers. After about five minutes of gunfighting, they retreat with some firearms they collected.
Pattani taskforce commander Piyapong Wongchan said the assailants showed a high level of coordination during the raid. Four security officers were killed and two wounded in the attack.
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“Some of our officers were shot, but they endured the injuries and kept fighting until their deaths,” the general said.
Gen. Piyapong also said at least two of the attackers appear to have been injured in the gunfight and left a trail of blood at the crime scene, which police have collected as evidence.
Although the general did not identify the perpetrators, similar assaults have been carried out in the past by insurgents seeking to secede the provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.
Apart from inflicting deaths and injuries, the perpetrators made off with five assault rifles they seized from dead security officers, police said.
The raid comes at a time of renewed tension in the Muslim-majority southern border provinces. Earlier this week, a 32-year-old local man was left in a coma after the military detained him on suspicion of aiding the separatist movement.
Civil rights activists have called on the authorities to investigate the incident, fearing the man might have been a victim in the military’s long history of torturing detainees.
Over 40 residents in Yala province have said they were arrested by the military recently and only released after they agreed to give up DNA samples.
On Wednesday, a group of government and opposition MPs submitted a joint petition to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, urging him to consider repealing special laws that allow soldiers to detain individuals and search properties at will.
The MPs, who hail from the southern border provinces, said the military should question whether these measures will indeed bring about peace in the region.
เปิดคลิปวงจรปิด เหตุการณ์คนร้ายบุกยิงถล่มฐาน ชตค.ที่ปัตตานี เมื่อคืนที่ผ่านมา ( 23 กค.2562 )
โพสต์โดย Yala ToDay ยะลา ทูเดย์ เมื่อ วันอังคารที่ 23 กรกฎาคม 2019