Two police officers were killed and three others injured while they were raiding a house in an oil palm plantation in Tak Bai district of the southern province of Narathiwat to search for illegal narcotics, according to an initial police report.
Suspected drug traffickers hiding in the house opened fire at the approaching officers before fleeing.
Police reinforcements were subsequently dispatched to the scene to look for the perpetrators, who are believed to have fled deeper into the jungle adjacent to the plantation.
Martial law has been imposed in Narathiwat since the military took over from the police in maintaining security, following a deadly attack on a road checkpoint in Ra-ngae district by a group of insurgents on July 22, leaving five paramilitary rangers dead and six civilians injured.
