CrazyExpat Posted February 13, 2010 Report Share Posted February 13, 2010 PATTANI, THAILAND: Suspected militants shot dead two Muslims and a Buddhist and wounded two other men in a fresh series of gun attacks in Thailand’s troubled south on Wednesday, police said. A 45-year-old Muslim villager was killed instantly when two men on a motorcycle opened fire as he rode his motorbike home from a mosque in the province of Pattani. Militants in Thailand’s southern border provinces commonly carry out shootings from motorcycles and target victims also riding motorbikes. In a similar attack in Pattani, suspected militants shot the assistant to a village leader, a 47-year-old Muslim man, as he rode home from a market. He later died of his injuries. A 47-year-old former government volunteer was also shot dead by two gunmen at a bird singing competition in Pattani. At least three suspected militants in neighbouring Yala province hid by a roadside and fired at a car carrying a 35-year-old Buddhist soldier and a 39-year-old village leader, wounding them both. More than 4,100 people have been killed since shadowy separatist militants launched an insurgency in the Muslim-majority southern region in January 2004. Militants target Buddhists and Muslims alike and have never publicly stated their goals. Tensions have simmered in the region, formerly an autonomous Malay Muslim sultanate, since it was annexed in 1902 by mainly Buddhist Thailand. -- AFP NST Online Three killed in Thailand's insurgent south Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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