Nine Thai army soldiers and paramilitary rangers were wounded early Sunday in two separate attacks while eight suspected terrorists insurgents were arrested and a number of weapons were seized in two insurgency-affected southern provinces, officials said.
Six soldiers were slightly wounded while traveling in a pick-up truck in Rangae district of Narathiwat to search a village where terrorists insurgents were thought to be in hiding. After the inspection, they were returning to base when an undetermined number of terrorists hiding in a dense forest used a remote-controlled explosive, causing their truck to hit and damaged slightly. Police said all the six victims were later sent to a hospital for treatment.
Another incident took place in nearby Pattani province at about 9.45am when terrorists insurgents set off a bomb hidden in a fire extinguisher tank, causing three rangers traveling in a pickup truck to suffer minor injuries. The incident took place in Nong Chik district two kilometres from their base en route to assist flood victims, police said.
Eight suspected terrorists insurgents were arrested in an extensive search in 13 Narathiwat districts with a number of military weapons seized, police said. One suspect was identified as 35-year-old Mahreeseng Maeroh for whom the authorities issued an arrest warrant under the Emergency Decree on November 12. Police said five of them had allegedly possessed drugs. |