Three suspected insurgents were shot dead by government security forces in the Chana district of Thailand’s southern province of Songkhla this morning (Thursday), according to the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC).
A negotiating team have been trying to persuade the remaining suspect, hiding in a house opposite a masjid in Ban Na sub-district, to surrender, he added.
Troops, paramilitary rangers and police were dispatched to Village 6 before dawn this morning, after it was reported that a group of insurgents was hiding in a house behind the masjid.
The force laid siege to the suspected hideout and told those inside to lay down their arms and surrender peacefully, but the suspected insurgents opened fire, triggering a firefight, as three of them tried to break out.
The fourth was believed to still be hiding in the house but has reportedly conceded to a surrender.
An ISOC spokesperson, Colonel Kiattisak Neewong, dismissed a claim by some of the local people that the three suspected insurgents were killed in the mosque.