21 October 2023 at 12:50 PUBLISHED
NARATHIWAT- In the earlier hours of Saturday, police reported that alleged insurgents launched a series of coordinated attacks in the Tak Bai area of this southwestern boundary province.
According to Pol Lt Col Jarukit Sridech, the acting chief of the Tak Bai police station, who was alerted at 1.30 am, an improvised explosive device( IED ), assembled inside a fire extinguisher cylinder, was detonated outside the gold shop in tambon Chehe, causing damage to the front part of that shop.
He claimed that around 50 meters from the golden shop, a group of unidentified gunmen even started firing at the security checkpoint. Seven of the soldiers stationed there responded by firing up at the intruders, sparking a gunfight that lasted for more than 30 minutes. After forces arrived, the militants fled into a nearby bush.
A power pole that was destroyed by a roadside bomb 200 meters from the station was reported to officers afterwards. On the other side of the street, beneath a power mast, they also found an explosive system.
When two more IEDs were discovered along a nearby street in tambon Chehe on Saturday morning, villagers alerted the police, and the area was cordoned off.
In Narathiwat, numerous power beams fell on the streets, obstructing traffic paths. ( Photo provided )
Police were afterwards informed of another roadside bomb in Tak Bai’s tambon Khosit. Ten power poles collapsed as a result of the explosion, briefly obstructing customers.
The acting commander of the Muno police station, Pol Col Direk Chomyong, reported two instances in the tambon muno neighborhood of Narathiwat: two power poles were damaged by a homemade bomb that was detonated, and another power plant was discovered beneath another mast.
The matter is still being looked into, he said.