- Joined
- Feb 23, 2009
- Messages
- 20,311
- Likes
- 8,403
An imam and 11 worshippers were killed when gunmen stormed a mosque during evening prayers in southern Thailand.
Another 11 people were seriously injured in the attack, one of the worst incidents in a five year insurgency in the troubled province of Narathiwat.
Around 100 people were praying in the mosque at Ai Payae village on Monday evening when the gunmen attacked, spraying the worshippers with bullets.
Witnesses told the Bangkok Post newspaper five to six gunmen broke into the prayer hall from undergrowth behind the mosque and began firing indiscriminately.
Ten of the worshippers died instantly and two died later in hospital. The gunmen fled the scene after the shooting.
The attack came amid a sudden flare-up in the insurgency that has left 3,700 people dead since 2004.
It happened just hours after the Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Malaysian premier Najib Razak agreed to step up cooperation over the region's troubles.
Suthep Thaugsuban, the deputy prime minister in charge of national security refused to speculate on the reason for the attack or who was behind it, although the government has blamed shadowy Muslim separatist insurgents for most of the violence in the south.
Villagers however blamed security forces for the massacre, saying that the insurgents would not attack a mosque.
In April 2004, 32 people, some suspected rebels, were killed by security forces in a raid on a mosque in the south.
Tensions have simmered in the south since Buddhist-majority Thailand annexed the former ethnic Malay sultanate in 1902.
But the current rebellion began on January 4, 2004 when militants raided an army base, also in Cho-ai-rong district, killing four soldiers and stealing weapons.
Gunmen kill 12 in attack on Thai mosque - Times Online
Another 11 people were seriously injured in the attack, one of the worst incidents in a five year insurgency in the troubled province of Narathiwat.
Around 100 people were praying in the mosque at Ai Payae village on Monday evening when the gunmen attacked, spraying the worshippers with bullets.
Witnesses told the Bangkok Post newspaper five to six gunmen broke into the prayer hall from undergrowth behind the mosque and began firing indiscriminately.
Ten of the worshippers died instantly and two died later in hospital. The gunmen fled the scene after the shooting.
The attack came amid a sudden flare-up in the insurgency that has left 3,700 people dead since 2004.
It happened just hours after the Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Malaysian premier Najib Razak agreed to step up cooperation over the region's troubles.
Suthep Thaugsuban, the deputy prime minister in charge of national security refused to speculate on the reason for the attack or who was behind it, although the government has blamed shadowy Muslim separatist insurgents for most of the violence in the south.
Villagers however blamed security forces for the massacre, saying that the insurgents would not attack a mosque.
In April 2004, 32 people, some suspected rebels, were killed by security forces in a raid on a mosque in the south.
Tensions have simmered in the south since Buddhist-majority Thailand annexed the former ethnic Malay sultanate in 1902.
But the current rebellion began on January 4, 2004 when militants raided an army base, also in Cho-ai-rong district, killing four soldiers and stealing weapons.
Gunmen kill 12 in attack on Thai mosque - Times Online