Four police officers wounded in militant attack in Yala

Four border patrol police (BPP) officers were injured, two of them seriously, in a bomb and gun attack by southern militants while on a routine foot patrol providing protection to teachers in Than To district of the southern province of Yala this morning.

The incident occurred at about 8am today, when the BPP patrol in Ban Sakai in Than To district arrived in Ban Suan Samrit village, where an improvised explosive device (IED) had been hidden by the roadside.

A group of militants, who had lain in wait nearby, then remotely detonated the IED before opening fire on the officers with automatic rifles. Two officers were seriously wounded by bomb shrapnel and gunshots, while two others sustained minor injuries.

The four injured officers were rushed to the district hospital by a reinforcement unit, which arrived at the scene shortly after the attack. Police say that the seriously-injured officers will be transferred to the provincial hospital, which is better equipped.