Five police officers were shot dead in an ambush in Thailand’s insurgency-hit south on Wednesday, officials said, but the government vowed the attack would not derail fragile peace efforts.
The shooting comes a day after two soldiers were killed in an attack at a school in the south by suspected rebels, apparently intent on disrupting the peace talks.
Muslim-majority southern Thailand has suffered an insurgency for nearly a decade that has claimed thousands of lives.
Wednesday’s attack was carried out by gunmen in the back of a pick-up truck that swerved in front of a police vehicle, causing it to stop, according to police in Thung Yang Daeng district of Pattani province.
The gunmen then opened fire and all “five police officers were killed” at the scene, local police commander Kowit Rattanachot said.
The dead officers were part of an anti-smuggling unit, police official Chuachat Yaodam said, without speculating whether the incident was linked with illicit trade across the border with Malaysia.
“The suspects are at large ... after the shooting, they scattered nails on the road,” Chuachat said, apparently to aid their escape.