Police: Attack kills 14 at southern Thailand security post

Thai police say attackers fired into security checkpoints in southern Thailand and killed 14 volunteer officers.

Pol. Col. Thaweesak Thongsongsi, a superintendent in a police station in Yala province, said an unknown number of assailants used heavy weapons in the attack late Tuesday night that also injured five volunteer officers.

A Muslim separatist insurgency has left about 7,000 people dead since 2004 in Thailand’s three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala. Police, teachers and other government representatives are often targets of the violence.

Thaweesak said Wednesday that several other incidents were reported in the area. A small explosive was found placed near an electrical pole to knock out power, and nails were scattered on a highway to disable vehicles entering Yala. Several burning tires were left at a school.