Six police officers were injured in a suspected terrorist bombing in southern Thailand.
The cops were conducting patrols when a bomb was allegedly detonated along the highway in Nong Chik district in Pattani province on July 22.
Police Colonel Pattanachai Palasuwan,superintendent of the Nong Chik Police Station, said police were notified of the explosion at around 10 pm local time.
Soldiers and local authorities arrived to inspect the scene, where a black Toyota Hilux Revo pickup was flung some 200 metres off the road. A small fire was also seen raging on the roadside.
Six officers who suffered chest pain, tinnitus, and bleeding from shrapnel, were rushed to the Nong Chik and Pattani Hospitals for treatment.
Colonel Poramet Sanuphong, commander of the 43rd Ranger Forces Regiment, said a search was launched within a 10-kilometre radius as the suspected terrorists were believed to still be in the area.
Access along Highways 42 and 43 were restricted following the incident.
Islamic separatist terror attacks target the three southernmost provinces of Thailand - Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat - next to the border with Mulsim neighbors Malaysia. Thai state employees and infrastructure are often hit while attacks on civilians are rare.
Officials believe the conflict dates to a deal in 1909 that the British Empire struck to incorporate the Muslim region into the Siamese mainland.
The region's culture is more similar to Malaysia and dramatically different to Buddhist Thais causing decades of tension that lead to the emergence of separatist groups fighting for independence in the 1960s.
The struggle has continued ever since with more than 7,344 people killed and 13,641 injured between January 2004 and March 2022.
The British Foreign & Commonwealth Office warns against all but essential travel to the region while Canada's government warns its nationals to 'avoid all travel' to the three provinces.
