January 6, 2012
NARATHIWAT (AFP) - More than 30 suspected Muslim rebels attacked a police camp in the Thai south Friday, killing two officers, who were among six left dead by regional violence in less than 24 hours, police said.
The rebels raided a dormitory while officers were sleeping in the early morning raid in Narathiwat province, stealing five heavy guns and bullets. Another three officers were also injured.
"They planned well for this attack, in response to our successful raids which destroyed two of their weapon storehouses in December," said Police Colonel Satanpah Wamasingha, the local police chief.
Also on Friday morning in Narathiwat, gunmen shot dead one man and injured his teacher wife as they were driving a pick-up truck in Sungai Kolok town, police said.
In Pattani province, at around noon, there were two drive-by shooting incidents, killing two men and injuring one other.
Late Thursday in Yala province, a villager was shot dead on his way home from work at a rubber plantation.
According to the latest figures from Deep South Watch, which closely monitors the southern conflict, almost 5,000 people -- both Buddhists and Muslims -- have been killed and 8,300 wounded since the unrest began in 2004.
People in the region complain of a long history of discrimination against ethnic Malay Muslims by authorities in the Buddhist-majority nation, including alleged abuses by the armed forces.
