Five paramilitary rangers, including the commander, were killed when their pickup truck hit a roadside bomb in Pattani; another ranger was wounded. The previous day a ranger was killed by a suspected militant in a shootout in Narathiwat. There have been frequent deadly attacks in Thailand since the last round of talks between the government and the rebel Barisan Revolusi Nasional group in April, in which the group said it wanted “liberation” from Thailand; the head of the Thai army rejected the proposal on May 22.
