Narathiwat raid recovers stolen weapons

February 21, 2006

A raid on a village in Thailand's Narathiwat Province has netted a variety of munitions believed to be being held for insurgency activity. According to security forces, this includes weapons stolen from the Cho Airong army base in January 2004 &mdash; a raid widely seen as the start of current insurgency in the country.

The cache of weapons was located in Tanyong Limoh village buried behind a house. According to the security forces, the area is known for harbouring Islamic insurgents. The munitions recovered in the raid include AK47 assault rifles, dynamite, handguns, and fertilizer which can be used in the manufacture of home-made explosives.

In one of the other troubled southern provinces, Yala, a border police officer was shot near his home. Other local policemen quickly arrived on the scene and opened fire on the militants who had killed Sergeant Major Prapon Suwankota; one insurgent was killed.