| More on a bold attack against a Thai army post reported here yesterday. The article posted then said that six soldiers had been killed, but all sources now say that there were four deaths. |
In a well-organized attack, around 40 gunmen raided the base in Rangae district late Wednesday as the soldiers were getting ready for dinner.
"The insurgents took the camp by surprise because everyone was getting ready for dinner," said reports. They gunned down soldiers, blew up bombs, set buildings on fire and took more than 50 rifles and about 5,000 rounds.
Roadside bombings and drive-by shootings are regular occurances in southern Thailand but Wednesday's attack was unusually well organized as they stormed the base from the front and rear at once.
| VOA: |
Panitan Wattanayagorn, a government spokesman said, "We actually had some warning relating to the latest incident in Narathiwat a few days ago but the area is very difficult to control. It remains one of the strongholds of the militant groups. We issued [a] warning to those officers in the area a few days ago to warn them that they will be a possible target but sadly they were not able to defend themselves."
Intelligence sources said the attackers also hit reinforcements coming to help, which indicated it was a well-planned operation.
| CNN: |
"But we are surprised that they launched their attack at our permanent camp instead of small temporary posts," he said.