On January 7, 2022, a Thai Ranger vehicle was targeted by a roadside IED in southern Thailand’s Pattani Province. The blast left a large crater in the soil adjacent to the road, but did not inflict casualties or significant damage. Responsibility for the attack, as well as for a shooting attack in Narathiwat Province several days previously, was claimed by a nascent media unit attributing the attacks, for the first time in southern Thailand, to militants affiliated with the Islamic State.
Though Salafi jihadist ideology has historically been poor in terms of penetrating Thailand, in recent years, IS loyalists online have attempted to declare a local Wilaya, albeit no evidence of such has been documented. This attack marks the first time that actors clearly affiliated with a global jihadist group have allegedly carried out an attack in the arena.
The employed TTPs are well-known from local Islamist insurgents, so it is therefore too soon to distinguish these attacks from those perpetrated by veteran local actors.
Notably, documentation shared by the professed IS-aligned media unit is not exclusive, and unequivocal proof of the involvement of IS-affiliated militants in these attacks has yet to be provided.
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