Thai security forces thwart attack on naval base, 16 militants killed < br />

2013-02-14 10:43:13 GMT+7 (ICT)

BANGKOK, THAILAND (BNO NEWS) -- A group of militants attacked a military base in Thailand's restive southern region, before security forces gunned them down, local authorities said Wednesday.

The attack occurred early Wednesday morning at around 1:10 a.m. local time in the province of Narathiwat when dozens of heavily armed militants carrying M16 and AK47 assault rifles attacked the Yueror naval base in Bacho. They arrived in two pickups and two motorcycles

Around 100 navy soldiers stood guard and killed at least sixteen insurgents before they fled. As a result, government authorities issued a curfew for six areas in Pattani and Narathiwat in order to hunt down the suspected insurgents. Some security forces were injured, but no casualties were reported.

Narathiwat Task Force 32 chief, Captain Thammanon Wanna, told the Bangkok Post that security authorities were on alert for a possible large attack after intelligence analysts found a map of the base and other documents on the body of Suhaidee Tahe, a 31-year-old militant killed last Saturday.

Since 2004, more than 5,000 people have been killed in Thailand's southern regions of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat as separatist groups renewed their fighting efforts against the government. More than 7,000 people have been injured in violent incidents launched by separatist militants in the region, which is for a majority Muslim.

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