Suspected separatist insurgents stormed a security checkpoint in&nbsp;Thailand's&nbsp;Muslim-majority south and&nbsp;killed at least&nbsp;15&nbsp;people, including a police officer and many village defence volunteers, security officials said on Wednesday.

It was the&nbsp;worst&nbsp;single&nbsp;attack&nbsp;in&nbsp;years&nbsp;in a region where a Muslim separatist insurgency has&nbsp;killed thousands.

The&nbsp;attackers, in the province of Yala, also used explosives and scattered nails on roads to delay pursuers late on Tuesday night.

"This is likely the work of the insurgents," Colonel Pramote Prom-in, a regional security spokesman, told Reuters.

"This is one of the biggest&nbsp;attacks&nbsp;in recent times."

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, however, as is common with such&nbsp;attacks.

A decades-old separatist insurgency in predominantly Buddhist&nbsp;Thailand's&nbsp;largely ethnic Malay-Muslim provinces of Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat has&nbsp;killed nearly 7,000 people since 2004, says Deep South Watch, a group that monitors the violence.

The population of the provinces, which belonged to an independent Malay Muslim sultanate before Thailand annexed them in 1909, is 80 per cent Muslim, while the rest of the country is overwhelmingly Buddhist.

Some rebel groups in the south have said they are fighting to establish an independent state.

Authorities arrested several suspects from the region in August over a series of small bombs detonated in Bangkok, the capital, although they have not directly blamed any insurgent group.

The main insurgency group, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), denied responsibility for the Bangkok bombings, which wounded four people.

In August, the group told Reuters it had held a secret preliminary meeting with the government, but any step towards a peace process appeared to wither after the deputy prime minister rejected a key demand for the release of prisoners.

Suspected separatist insurgents stormed a security checkpoint in Thailand's Muslim-majority south and killed at least 15 people, including a police officer and many village defence volunteers, security officials said on Wednesday.

Suspected separatist insurgents stormed a security checkpoint in Thailand's Muslim-majority south and killed at least 15 people, including a police officer and many village defence volunteers, security officials said on Wednesday. It was the worst single attack in years in a region where a Muslim separatist insurgency has killed thousands. The attackers, in the province of Yala, also used explosives and scattered nails on roads to delay pursuers late on Tuesday night. "This is likely the work of the insurgents," Colonel Pramote Prom-in, a regional security spokesman, told Reuters. "This is one of the biggest attacks in recent times." There was no immediate claim of responsibility, however, as is common with such attacks. A decades-old separatist insurgency in predominantly Buddhist Thailand's largely ethnic Malay-Muslim provinces of Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat has killed nearly 7,000 people since 2004, says Deep South Watch, a group that monitors the violence. The population of the provinces, which belonged to an independent Malay Muslim sultanate before Thailand annexed them in 1909, is 80 per cent Muslim, while the rest of the country is overwhelmingly Buddhist. Some rebel groups in the south have said they are fighting to establish an independent state. Authorities arrested several suspects from the region in August over a series of small bombs detonated in Bangkok, the capital, although they have not directly blamed any insurgent group. The main insurgency group, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), denied responsibility for the Bangkok bombings, which wounded four people. In August, the group told Reuters it had held a secret preliminary meeting with the government, but any step towards a peace process appeared to wither after the deputy prime minister rejected a key demand for the release of prisoners.

Gunmen kill 15 in southern Thailand's worst attack in years

Nineteen Myanmar human trafficking victims have been rescued in Thailand, state media and an activist group said today, a rare policing success against criminal networks that dominate the region. 
 
The group were discovered by Thai police locked up on an Indonesian-flagged fishing vessel off the coast of Thailand&#39;s southern Pattani district on Sunday, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported. 
 
The raid was launched after the families of some of those on board managed to alert the Myanmar Association in Thailand, a local support group, about their plight. 
 
Kyaw Thaung, director of the association, told AFP that the victims, some of whom were as young as 13, were lured with the promise of work in Bangkok but instead found themselves locked on the fishing vessel. 
 
&quot;A police force raided the fishing boat to Indonesia and found 19 Burmese workers there,&quot; he said. &quot;They had been there about 10 days already.&quot; 
 
A Burmese broker was arrested at the scene, he added.&nbsp; 
 
Thai police did not respond to requests for comment but a source at Myanmar&#39;s human trafficking police division in Naypyidaw confirmed to AFP that the raid rescued 19 citizens.&nbsp; 
 
Drawn by the lure of comparatively higher wages, millions of Myanmar&#39;s poor work inside Thailand, often in unregulated industries where they routinely face exploitation and abuse by unscrupulous employers. 
 
The kingdom had long been a human trafficking hub, aided by officials who either turned a blind eye or were complicit in the grim but lucrative trade. 
 
Since seizing power in 2014, Thailand&#39;s junta government has tried to clean up the country&#39;s image, launching a crackdown last year against human traffickers with some success. 
 
It has also tried to reform the country&#39;s multi-billion-dollar fishing sector, which has long been accused of using widespread slave labour. 
 
But Sunday&#39;s raid suggests criminal networks are still finding ways to traffic or press-gang vulnerable migrant workers. 
 
(AFP)

This is a rare police success in this trafficking hub, where officials can turn a blind eye or are complicit in the grim, lucrative trade

Nineteen Myanmar human trafficking victims have been rescued in Thailand, state media and an activist group said today, a rare policing success against criminal networks that dominate the region. The group were discovered by Thai police locked up on an Indonesian-flagged fishing vessel off the coast of Thailand's southern Pattani district on Sunday, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported. The raid was launched after the families of some of those on board managed to alert the Myanmar Association in Thailand, a local support group, about their plight. Kyaw Thaung, director of the association, told AFP that the victims, some of whom were as young as 13, were lured with the promise of work in Bangkok but instead found themselves locked on the fishing vessel. "A police force raided the fishing boat to Indonesia and found 19 Burmese workers there," he said. "They had been there about 10 days already." A Burmese broker was arrested at the scene, he added. Thai police did not respond to requests for comment but a source at Myanmar's human trafficking police division in Naypyidaw confirmed to AFP that the raid rescued 19 citizens. Drawn by the lure of comparatively higher wages, millions of Myanmar's poor work inside Thailand, often in unregulated industries where they routinely face exploitation and abuse by unscrupulous employers. The kingdom had long been a human trafficking hub, aided by officials who either turned a blind eye or were complicit in the grim but lucrative trade. Since seizing power in 2014, Thailand's junta government has tried to clean up the country's image, launching a crackdown last year against human traffickers with some success. It has also tried to reform the country's multi-billion-dollar fishing sector, which has long been accused of using widespread slave labour. But Sunday's raid suggests criminal networks are still finding ways to traffic or press-gang vulnerable migrant workers. (AFP)

19 Myanmar human trafficking victims rescued in Thailand

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