High alert in normally quiet areas

Colonel Kriangkrai Srirak, commander of the 42 Ranger Unit in Songkhla, said all units had been put on 24-hour high alert in areas from Thepha to Yala's Bannang Sata districts. Situated between the two districts are Songkhla's Saba Yoi and Yala's Yaha districts.

At the same time, security forces swooped on Tambon Pakbang in Thepha district after a group of militants ambushed a ranger unit that was on a foot patrol.

It is believed that the attackers were non-locals who had succeeded in establishing a cell in the Thai-speaking area, he said.

Police said the attack occurred while six troopers were patrolling along a road in Koh Laenang village in Tambon Pakbang of Thepha district at 8am.

The two sides exchanged gunfire before the insurgents retreated.

Sources said top security officials were jolted by the attack, which was extremely rare in this particular area that borders the Malay-speaking region and the Thai-speaking area.

Security units were called in to seal off possible escape routes from Thepha leading southward to Yaha, a hotbed of violence in the ongoing insurgency in the Muslim-majority region.