Five soldiers killed in Thailand’s restive south: army

BANGKOK: Five Thai soldiers were killed in an attack at a checkpoint in the country’s insurgency-hit south, the army said, one of the deadliest such incidents in years.
Six civilians were also wounded in the Wednesday evening attack in Narathiwat province, one of three Muslim-majority provinces gripped by a decades-long separatist insurgency, local officials said.
Members of Task Force Ranger Regiment 45 “were killed when assailants opened fire and threw pipe bombs at the Bukeh Sami checkpoint … while they were on duty protecting local residents,” the army said in a statement late on Wednesday.
The public relations department of Narathiwat province said six civilians were hurt, adding that no group has yet claimed responsibility and no arrests have been made.
A low-level conflict has simmered in Thailand’s southernmost provinces since 2004, killing more than 7,000 people, as rebels in the Muslim-majority region battle for greater autonomy.
Most attacks target security personnel.
The army paid tribute to those killed on Wednesday, saying: “Their service and sacrifice will be remembered and honored with the highest respect.”