Two killed in daylight attack in Thailand's restive south (AP) Updated: 2005-11-14 13:48
Suspected Islamic insurgents attacked a grocery store Monday in Thailand's
restive south, killing a husband and wife who had migrated to the region,
officials said.
Gunmen shot at the store in Pattani province's Yarang district and then set
it on fire, police said. Chom Phongsir and his wife, Nilranta, were killed
instantly, while their 10-year-old son managed to escape, police said.
The couple had moved to the area from northeastern Thailand and police
surmised that the attack was aimed at sending a message to other migrants
following a proposal from some government officials to resettle Buddhist
families in the mostly Muslim area.
"The investigators believed that the insurgents launched the attack on the
grocery shop in an attempt to scare away the people from Isaan" in northeastern
Thailand, said Maj. Pracha Chuaydee of Yarang district police.
Meanwhile, two highway workers were seriously injured when unidentified
gunmen shot them as they were heading to work, Pracha said. The men were rushed
to a hospital, where they were listed in serious condition, he said.
Up to 10 percent of Thailand's 65 million people are Muslims. Most live in
the three southernmost provinces, where they have long complained of
second-class treatment.
Several separatist rebellions have broken out in the area over the past
century. The three provinces, annexed by Buddhist-dominated Thailand a century
ago, are the only ones with Muslim majorities.
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