Security forces launch hunt for insurgents who killed four at checkpoint
Fourth Army Region commander Lt-General Pornsak Poolsawat on Wednesday said he had ordered the “Jorayuth 118 Moobaan” teams to conduct extensive search operations in the Muang district of Pattani province to apprehend those involved in the gun attack on a security checkpoint that left an Army officer and three civilian volunteers dead.
He said officers on Wednesday morning found blood stains on the road, which suggested that at least two fleeing insurgents might have been injured.
Offering his condolences to the slain victims' families, Pornsak confirmed that the four slain heroes would be given posthumous promotions and their families would be entitled to assistance.
On Tuesday, a group of some 10 suspected insurgents, with their faces concealed, attacked the security checkpoint in Ban Kolaebi village in Tambon Pakaharang, Muang district. The attack at 9pm killed Army Sergeant Chathawat Massri, 35, volunteer ranger Usman Tasamoh, 27, and two civilian defence volunteers Abdulfatah Semrem, 25, and Ussaman Yasari, 26. The attackers reportedly fled to a nearby village. Two volunteer rangers sustained injuries. Paisal Moosordee, 30, sustained a gunshot wound in his stomach, and Ni-amin Masamae, 25, has gunshot wounds on the chest and arm. Pornsak’s remarks came after visiting the two injured victims at Pattani Hospital at 11am on Wednesday.
Pornsak said the latest sneak attack by insurgents would be a key lesson for the Internal Security Operations Command’s Region 4 Forward Command to review its strategy.