The first attack happened at 9am at a bridge behind the Narathiwat Coastal Fishery Research Centre. As five troops parked their pickup truck, insurgents detonated a bomb hidden inside a motorcycle to ambush them.

Police said the five troops had gone to help repair the house of a relative of a former insurgent. The motorcycle belonged to Mariya Maka, 31, who reported that it had been stolen after his friend borrowed it.

About 30 minutes later, as police inspected the scene, another bomb exploded about 800 metres away.

Poilce said two of the troops were severely injured. They were identified as Pvt Sirikhet Mankhaket and Sgt Kittipong Promsaen. They were initially treated as a district hospital and later taken to Narathiwat Hospital.