Malaysian villages shaken as blasts rock southern Thailand

Residents of Malaysian villages near the Thailand border were left shaken this weekend after hearing loud booms and seeing flashes of light across the frontier, as Thai authorities confirmed more than 50 coordinated attacks on Saturday night.

The blasts, heard in Kampung Lubok Gong and Kampung Tersang in Malaysia’s Kelantan state, coincided with a wave of near-simultaneous attacks across 21 districts in Thailand’s Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces beginning around 8pm local time on Saturday, according to Thailand’s Internal Security Operations Command.

Preliminary reports indicated three civilians were injured and they were reported to be recovering on Sunday, though authorities said they were still compiling a full casualty count given the scale of the incidents.

On the Malaysian side of the border, Ismail Abdul Rahman, 50, of Kampung Lubok Gong, and Malik Zulkarnain, 35, of Kampung Tersang, told national news agency Bernama that the booms were unmistakable.

“They were very loud, like booms in the sky during a lightning storm. The house felt as though it was shaking, and we immediately stayed alert,” Ismail said, adding that he kept his family indoors until the noise abated.