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| Militants killed in southern Thailand attack | Militants killed in southern Thailand attack |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Thailand's military says its troops have killed at least 17 militants who stormed a base in the violence-hit south of the country. | Thailand's military says its troops have killed at least 17 militants who stormed a base in the violence-hit south of the country. |
| The attack took place early on Wednesday in Narathiwat province, near the border with Malaysia. | The attack took place early on Wednesday in Narathiwat province, near the border with Malaysia. |
| No military casualties were reported in the attack, which the Thai army said had involved dozens of militants. | No military casualties were reported in the attack, which the Thai army said had involved dozens of militants. |
| Thailand's three southernmost provinces have been plagued by unrest in recent years. | Thailand's three southernmost provinces have been plagued by unrest in recent years. |
| More than 5,000 people have been killed since a decades-old separatist campaign reignited in the Muslim-majority region in 2004. | |
| Separatists carry out regular attacks, usually roadside bombings or drive-by shootings. | |
| This attack is one of the biggest in recent years. | |
| "What we know so far is at least 60 armed insurgents opened fire at our marine base in Bacho at around 01:30 this morning and 17 of them were killed," Lt-Gen Paradorn Pattanathabutr, secretary-general of the National Security Council of Thailand, told Reuters news agency. | |
| Soldiers at the base were tipped off by locals ahead of the attack, another military official said. | |
| The three southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat were annexed to Siam, as Thailand was then known, more than a century ago. Most of the residents are Muslims, unlike the majority Buddhist population in Thailand. | |
| The Thai government has deployed tens of thousands of troops and police to the region, but has been unable to quell the violence. | |
| On Sunday five soldiers were killed by suspected militants in a bomb attack in Yala, a neighbouring province. |