Panu Uthairat, secretary-general of the Fourth Region Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc), was joined by other top security officials in announcing Isoc’s six-month performance results from October to March.

He said more than 85 per cent of people surveyed said Isoc projects, such as “Pracha Rat” (State of the people), “Santisuk District” and its flagship campaign “Pha Khon Klab Ban” (Bringing People Home), had improved the situation in the region.

In the six-month period, the agency said it detained 126 suspects and seized 49 guns and other weapons and ammunition.

It said officials had also located seven insurgent bases, stopped 38 attempted bomb attacks, retrieved 11 bombs, found 27 bomb-excavation sites and some 26,000 volunteers took part in trying to prevent coordinated attacks in rural and city areas.

The Isoc said other activities included the confiscation of evidence related to 101 criminal offences such as the drug trade, oil and log smuggling, smuggling contraband goods, and operating gambling dens and human trafficking, as well as making 514 related arrests and summons.

The agency said it also seized 3 million amphetamine tablets, 10 kilograms of ice, 20 kilograms of heroin, 572 kilograms of marijuana and 17 guns,

About 20 rai (3.2 hectares) of forestland was regained, while 2,715 illegal logging items, 78,870 litres of smuggled oil and Bt91 million Thai and foreign banknotes were seized.

The agency said an anti-drug campaign called “Yalannanbaru” had involved over 4,000 drug users and some 67,000 people supporters, with 228 people completing drug rehabilitation in Songkhla’s Thepa district.

It said it spent Bt3.4 billion on operating 2,788 projects in response to locals’ demands, including building and fixing homes for disaster victims, building roads and food processing factories, providing medical and dental treatments, and giving scholarships and tuition fees to students.

Other endeavours included sponsoring 230 poor Muslims so they could make the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia and sponsoring 430 poor Buddhists so they could travel to India.

The Isoc said it had also ensured fairness by reducing the enforcement of special laws in favour of normal legal procedures, while it did not violate anyone’s human rights in 178 insurgency-related cases.

It said it had also made progress in major cases such as the coordinated attack in Narathiwat’s Joh I Rong district on March 13.

Officials have identified 12 suspects allegedly involved in the attack, three of whom have been arrested, it said.

Four people were arrested in connection with the attempted car bombing in Yala on April 5, it said, while two people were arrested in connection with the bomb attack at the Chana train station in Songkhla.

Of the 448 complaints filed at the Damrongtham centre, 133 have been solved.

It said in the six-month period, 1,814 people reported to officials under the Pha Khon Klab Ban project, with 3,837 doing so since the beginning of the operation up until March.