Assailants kill five paramilitary rangers in Narathiwat attack

Five Thai paramilitary rangers were killed and two civilians were injured after six assailants attacked a security checkpoint with gunfire and pipe bombs in the southernmost province of Narathiwat at around 7pm today.

Preliminary reports showed the assailants, dressed in black, arrived in a black four-door Nissan pickup truck before opening fire and hurling pipe bombs at the Buketa Sami municipal checkpoint in Tanyong Mat municipality, Ra-ngae district.

The checkpoint is operated by Ranger Company 4509.

Five rangers on duty were killed in the attack, while two civilians, including a 10-year-old boy, were injured. Rescue workers rushed the injured to a hospital for treatment.

After the attack, the assailants fled in the pickup truck along Highway 4055 from Tanyong Mat to Dusong Yo subdistrict.

Security forces have sealed off the area, examined the crime scene and are collecting forensic evidence as the investigation continues.