Thailand imposes martial law in southern province after attack kills 5 paramilitary troops

Thai authorities have imposed martial law across the southern border province of Narathiwat, granting the military sweeping powers to pursue suspected insurgents after an attack on a security checkpoint killed five paramilitary troops, according to Thai PBS World.

The order was issued Thursday by Major General Yod-Arwut Phuengpak, commander of the Narathiwat Task Force, a day after gunmen attacked a ranger checkpoint in Ra-ngae district, killing five paramilitary personnel and injuring six civilians.

Under the martial law declaration, security forces are authorized to establish roadblocks, search vehicles and homes without warrants if they are believed to be linked to insurgent activity, and arrest suspects. Troops have also been empowered to use lethal force when necessary and proportionate to the threat, the report added.

The military will assume responsibility for maintaining peace and public order across the province, while civil servants and other government officials involved in security matters will operate under military direction.

Thailand's four southern provinces have a large Malay Muslim population and are part of the historic Patani region.

The insurgency in the region is rooted in a century-old ethnocultural conflict between Malay Muslims living in southern Thailand and the Thai central state, where Buddhism is considered the de facto national religion.

Armed insurgent groups were formed in the 1960s after the then military dictatorship sought to interfere in Islamic schools, but the insurgency faded in the 1990s.

In 2004, a rejuvenated armed movement emerged, comprising numerous local cells of fighters loosely grouped around an organization known as the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), or National Revolutionary Front.

The conflict remains one of the world's deadliest low-intensity insurgencies.