Four Buddhist poachers were injured in an ambush by Muslim insurgents in Narathiwat’s Sungai Padi district Wednesday evening.
Police said the shooting happened near a mosque in Ban Kampong Buenae at 6pm when the Buddhist villagers were returning home after hunting wild boar on a nearby mountain.
The four injured villagers were identified as Panupong Kaewmek, Somporn Piyarook, Sutthisak Boonchuay, and Wicharn Boonchuay.
They were initially sent to the Sungai Padi Hospital but were later transferred to the better-equipped Sungai Kolok Hospital.
One of their friends, Sutthipong Boonchuay, told police that the group of 11 had travelled in two pickups from their homes in Ban Mai village to hunt wild boar on the mountain.
Sutthipong said five friends had already left in the first pickup and the rest were on their way in the second when the shooting occurred. The shots were fired at the second pickup from the forest, some 100 metres from the village mosque. The injured were riding in the pickup bed.
The attackers fled after the shooting.
