A non-commissioned officer, who was seriously injured in an explosion during a firefight with a group of insurgents in a rubber plantation in the southern province of Pattani on Saturday, has died in hospital in Hat Yai.
Security sources say that Sgt-Maj Thanasak Buakhao lost both his legs in the landmine explosion, while his unit was attempting to flush out an unknown number of insurgents holed up in the rubber plantation in Ban Klong Chang in Khok Pho district yesterday.
Three officers, including Thanasak, were injured in the explosion, but the other two sustained only minor injuries.
Security forces are moving into the rubber plantation today to search for the insurgents, while other units are placed on the insurgents’ potential escape routes. No clashes have been reported today.
