Gunmen kill 12 in attack on Thai mosque

[Singh]

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

 

[I-G]

Bomb attack hits S Thailand, one dead, 14 injured
2009-08-29 03:13:32 GMT2009-08-29 11:13:32 (Beijing Time) xinhuanet

BANGKOK, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Suspected insurgents on Saturday threw a bomb at a group of villagers in south Thailand, leaving one dead and 14 injured.

The incident occurred in Sai Buri district in Pattani province when two gunmen in a motorcycle threw a bomb at the villagers playing petanque, the Thai-language news agency, INN said.

Authorities believe that the attackers were trying to create chaos in the area.

It was the second most serious attack in less than a week.

On Tuesday, insurgents detonated a bomb hidden in a car park near a restaurant in Thailand's southern province of Narathiwat neighboring Pattani, injuring 42 people who were having lunch.

Thailand's deep South, which includes mainly the three southernmost provinces Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat as well as some parts of Songkla province, has undergone violence by suspected separatists during which more than 3,700 people have been killed since 2004.

Bomb attack hits S Thailand, one dead, 14 injured - World News - SINA English

 

[I-G]

One killed, 29 injured by twin bombings in S Thailand
2009-09-03 13:26:38 GMT2009-09-03 21:26:38 (Beijing Time) xinhuanet

BANGKOK, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- The latest information showed one was killed and another 29 wounded Thursday in separate bombings that happened almost simultaneously in Thai deep South, Thai media reported on Thursday.

The casualty number was updated from the earlier report of 14 injuries by local media soon after the occurrence of the bombings in the southmost province Pattani.

According to Thai News Agency, 65-year-old Manit Shuprom was killed and 27 others were wounded, some seriously, when at least one bomb was detonated at front of a restaurant Thursday at lunch time. The explosive device was apparently built into a motorcycle parked outside the restaurant.

Almost at the same time another bomb exploded. The bomb was hidden in a motorcycle that parked in front of a convenient store about 100 meters away from the restaurant. The shop owner and her one-year-old son got injured.

Police blamed the bombings on suspected local insurgents.

All of the injured people were rushed to a hospital in Pattani and the investigation team is collecting all evidence and remains.

Meanwhile, Lt-Gen Pichet Wisaijorn, Fourth Army Region Commander, said he saw no need to change strategies to tackle the violence in the southern border provinces, as local residents cooperate with authorities by giving information to officials.

The army chief directed the military to continue to protect the majority -- about 2 million local residents -- while there are about 8,000 presumed insurgents in the restive South, said Pichet.

Thailand's deep South, which includes mainly the three southernmost provinces Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat as well as some parts of Songkla province, has undergone violence by suspected separatists for years, during which at least 3,131 people were killed.

A total of 9,947 violent incidents happened in this area since January 2004 to July 2009, breaking down to 5,162 shootings, 1,612bombings and 1,403 arsons, according to the data released by Southern Border Police Operations Center in early August.

One killed, 29 injured by twin bombings in S Thailand - World News - SINA English

 

[I-G]

2 shot dead in Southern Thailand
2009-09-04 11:25:53 GMT2009-09-04 19:25:53 (Beijing Time) xinhuanet

BANGKOK, Sep. 4 (Xinhua) -- Two men were shot dead Friday afternoon in violence-plagued Thai deep South, an area that saw two violence attacks in a single day.

According to Bangkok Post, the village headman and his son were attacked by two gunmen on a motorcycle in Pattani province's Panare district early afternoon.

Local police said Isma-air Vaesateh, 42, head of Tha Nam village, and his son were pronounced dead at Panare hospital.

The event followed a car bombing Friday morning in another southern province of Yala, which occurred in front of a restaurant and killed a police and wounded more than 10 people.

Suspected insurgents hid the bomb inside a pickup truck, parking in front of the restaurant and the blast also damaged several other cars parking nearby.

Police blamed the two attacks on suspected separatist militants.
2 shot dead in Southern Thailand - World News - SINA English

 

[I-G]

Villager shot dead in S Thailand
2009-09-05 07:23:42 GMT2009-09-05 15:23:42 (Beijing Time) xinhuanet

BANGKOK, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- A man was killed and his wife injured in a drive-by shooting in Thailand's southern border province of Yala Saturday morning, Thai media reported.

The couple were riding their motorcycle to their rubber plantation in the province's Betong district when two insurgents on a motorcycle caught up and opened fire at them, The Nation's website quoted police sources as saying.

Mahadee Arwae, 38, died at the scene. His wife was injured.

Thailand's deep South, which includes mainly the three southernmost provinces Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat as well as some parts of Songkla province, has undergone violence by suspected separatists for years, during which more than 3,000 people have been killed since 2004.

Villager shot dead in S Thailand - World News - SINA English