NARATHIWAT: Rangers exchanged gunfire with four armed men and seized an assault rifle during a raid on nine makeshift shelters of insurgents in Rangae district in the early hours of Friday. The gunmen fled.
A team of rangers were despatched to Tawae mountain in tambon Bo-ngo at around 12.30am following information that the area could be an insurgent base.
Upon arriving, the rangers found nine makeshift shelters and four men guarding the site. Ther asked for a search, but the men opened fire.
Both sides exchanged bullets for 15 minutes before the four armed men fled. Nobody was injured.
After the brief clash, the officers inspected the nine shelters and found an M16 assault rifle with rounds of ammunition, personal belongings, a cooking gas cylinder and other utensils.
All items were taken from the mountainous insurgent base to lowland area for forensic officials to collect fingerprint samples for DNA testing. The investigation was extended to find the armed men.
