At least 14 people were injured, four of them seriously, on October 16 when militants remotely detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) hidden in bushes near a tea shop in Yee Ngor district, Narathiwat province, southern Thailand.
Police said three officers and three civilians were at the tea shop when the explosion occurred, about 200 metres from the Yee Ngor police station. The blast and shrapnel also injured several civilians in a pickup truck passing by the area. All the injured, including a 79-year-old woman, were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Following the explosion, police cordoned off the area, and a bomb disposal team was deployed to search for additional explosive devices that might have been left at the scene.
Earlier, on the evening of October 15, clashes broke out in Sai Buri district, Pattani province, also in southern Thailand, leaving a border police officer dead. The incident occurred when a border police team was dispatched to a location believed to be a insurgents hideout. The area was secured, and explosive ordnance disposal officers were sent to check for any IEDs.
During the operation, an exchange of gunfire erupted, resulting in the deaths of a police officer and an insurgent.
Pattani, along with Yala and Narathiwat, are Thailand’s three southernmost provinces, long affected by gun attacks and bombings carried out by separatist insurgents.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said during a recent inspection that the government would coordinate with all relevant security agencies to address security issues in the border provinces, aiming to restore lasting peace and stability in the South.
