Five Thai security personnel killed in southern checkpoint

Five Thai paramilitary rangers were killed and six civilians, including two children, were wounded in a coordinated attack on a security checkpoint in Thailand's southern Narathiwat province on Wednesday evening. Authorities are now searching for the approximately ten assailants responsible for one of the deadliest assaults on security forces in the region in recent years.

The attack occurred at the Buketa Sami checkpoint near a residential area. According to the regional Internal Security Operations Command, the attackers, dressed in black clothing and hats, arrived in a black pickup truck and on motorcycles. They opened fire with military-grade firearms and threw pipe bombs at soldiers from Task Force Ranger Regiment 45 who were on duty. After the assault, the assailants fled the scene, having stolen three AK-47 rifles, three bulletproof vests, and several mobile phones from the checkpoint. The pickup truck used in the attack was later found abandoned and set on fire approximately 21 kilometers away.

Among the six injured civilians are a three-year-old girl and a ten-year-old boy, the latter of whom remains hospitalized in stable condition. Footage from the scene showed damage...