Five Thai security personnel were killed and six civilians, including two young children, injured in an attack in Thailand’s restive deep south, the military said on Thursday, Report informs via Reuters.
About 10 assailants dressed in black and wearing black brimmed hats arrived in a pickup truck and on motorcycles before launching an attack on a roadside checkpoint in Narathiwat province late on Wednesday using military-grade firearms and pipe bombs, the military’s Internal Security Operations Command Region 4 said in a statement.
Five paramilitary rangers were killed in the attack and six civilians were wounded, including a three-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy.
Authorities said the attackers seized three AK-47 rifles, three bulletproof vests and several mobile phones from the checkpoint before fleeing.
Security forces later found the pickup truck used in the assault abandoned and set ablaze about 21 km (13 miles) from the scene.
As with most attacks in Thailand’s deep south, no group immediately claimed responsibility.
The government condemned the attack as an act of terrorism that posed “a serious threat to national security” and undermined ongoing efforts to revive the peace process, government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said in a statement.