Dozens of Gunmen Storm Thai Military Base

Sixteen of them dead in counter attack

In one of the most deadly attacks in Thailand's long-running insurgency, scores of heavily-armed gunmen stormed a southern army base Wednesday, authorities said, leaving 16 militants dead.

In the unusually brazen early-morning assault, 100 militants, dressed in army fatigues and armed with AK47 and M16 assault rifles, attacked the unit in Narathiwat province, unit commander Captain Somkiat Pholprayoon said. "Sixteen militants were confirmed dead after the attack," he told reporters at the scene, adding that the military and police were in "hot pursuit" of the 60 to 70 militants who fled the base after the attack.