PUBLISHED: 23 Sep 2024 at 04: 30
NARATHIWAT: Police in Waeng district’s Waeng area are looking for 20 or so military men who allegedly kidnapped four soldiers before torching four houses in Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary on Saturday.
Director-general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation ( DNP ), Ataphol Charoenshunsa, said the incident was the first terror attack on the sanctuary in 30 years. No one was hurt, he said.
A preliminary investigation by the Royal Thai Police showed that about 20 intruders, masked and strongly armed, stormed the living rooms of the sanctuary’s workers at 5.45pm on Saturday.
Four shelter staff members were taken hostage by some of the men, while the others bombed and torched four local business houses.
As many workers escaped and called for assistance from a nearby town, the episode lasted for about 50 minutes.
Security personnel arrived on the scene in an armored car, but the intruders had already left.
Among the houses destroyed by the intruders, one was used as a holiday home.
The three additional houses were used as offices and to house employees. The attackers even tore some government vehicles into the parking lot.
The Crime Suppression Division ( CSD ) said firearms were taken from the sanctuary’s firearms cabinet, including 10 shotguns, and one nine-millimetre calibre handgun.
The officials who were quickly held prisoner were taken there for additional doubting. They were allowed to go at about 2am monday.
This day, two explosions were heard in Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary, prompting officials to strengthen security procedures at the sanctuary’s doors.
After receiving the accounts, Mr Attapon ordered the sanctuary’s captain to work with the local authorities to improve the sanctuary’s safety procedures.
The temple is a hornbill training facility.