Six killed as violence flares in Thai south

SIX people have been killed and five wounded in Thailand's restive Muslim south, police said yesterday, the latest upsurge in violence blamed on separatist militants.

The attacks, which included drive-by shootings and bombings, took place late on Monday and on Tuesday and targeted both Muslims and the region's minority Buddhists.

A Buddhist couple, both teachers, were killed by unknown gunmen while riding on a motorcycle early yesterday in Rangae in Narathiwat province, police said.

In the same district a few hours later, a Buddhist defence volunteer was gunned down and killed in another drive-by attack.

The shootings came two days after suspected ethnic Malay rebels torched government offices, bus shelters, shops and phone booths in simultaneous attacks in seven districts of Narathiwat, which borders Malaysia.

Later Tuesday in Yala province, a Buddhist rubber tapper was wounded when a bomb exploded. The previous night in Bannang Sata, the most dangerous place in the region, a Muslim woman was shot dead and three soldiers wounded in a roadside bombing.

Around the same time, two Muslims were killed in separate drive-by shootings in Pattani and an assistant village leader was badly wounded in Narathiwat when unknown assailants sprayed automatic gunfire at his vehicle.

Reuters