Buddhist shot dead as tensions mount in Thai south
By Surapan Boonthanom
YALA, Thailand, June 10 (Reuters) - A Buddhist construction worker was shot dead and two others wounded in Thailand's restive deep south on Wednesday as tensions escalated in the wake of a bloody attack on a mosque.
Police said four gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on labourers at a construction site, killing one woman and wounding two men in Yala, one of three violence-plagued provinces near the Malaysian border.
A note left at the scene said: "You kill our innocents, so we kill your people."
The shooting followed Monday's brazen attack on a mosque in Narathiwat, where 10 Muslims were killed and 12 wounded in one of the deadliest incidents this year in the deep south, where nearly 3,500 people have died in violence since 2004.
With no clear evidence, speculation was rife about the identity of the gunmen who burst into the mosque and sprayed automatic gunfire at praying Muslims.
Residents pointed the finger at security forces and a local senator said separatist militants were not to blame because the massacre was an act no Muslim was capable of.
The military on Wednesday said an investigation was underway but no arrests had been made.
"We have leads and tips from intelligence, which is useful as we have virtually no evidence or witnesses," regional army spokesman, Colonel Prinya Chaidilok told Reuters.
Army chief, General Anupong Paochinda, has rejected claims of military involvement, saying rebels were trying to cause a rift between Muslims and the region's Buddhist minority.
INHUMANE ACT
Thailand's deputy prime minister in charge of security, Suthep Thaungsuban, said the attack was an "inhumane act" to punish villagers who had cooperated with the authorities.
"I have asked commanders to deploy more troops in villages where people have a good relationship with the government, because they cannot defend themselves," Suthep told reporters in Bangkok.
Chaiwat Satha-Anand, an academic and former member of the south's now-defunct National Reconciliation Committee, said Buddhists armed and trained by the military to defend their villages could be behind the attack.
"Who has guns in the deep south? he said. "We may blame soldiers, police or insurgents, but there are also armed Buddhist civilians organised and trained by state organisations."
Wednesday's attack came amid an escalation of violence in Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani, where 20 people have been killed and over 40 wounded since Friday in shootings and bombings targeting civilians and the military.
The region was a Muslim sultanate until annexed by Buddhist Thailand a century ago. Local Muslims speak a Malay dialect and have more in common with their neighbours in Malaysia. (Additional reporting by Kittipong Soonprasert in Bangkok) (Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Jeremy Laurence)
YALA, Thailand, June 10 (Reuters) - A Buddhist construction worker was shot dead and two others wounded in Thailand's restive deep south on Wednesday as tensions escalated in the wake of a bloody attack on a mosque.
Police said four gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on labourers at a construction site, killing one woman and wounding two men in Yala, one of three violence-plagued provinces near the Malaysian border.
A note left at the scene said: "You kill our innocents, so we kill your people."
The shooting followed Monday's brazen attack on a mosque in Narathiwat, where 10 Muslims were killed and 12 wounded in one of the deadliest incidents this year in the deep south, where nearly 3,500 people have died in violence since 2004.
With no clear evidence, speculation was rife about the identity of the gunmen who burst into the mosque and sprayed automatic gunfire at praying Muslims.
Residents pointed the finger at security forces and a local senator said separatist militants were not to blame because the massacre was an act no Muslim was capable of.
The military on Wednesday said an investigation was underway but no arrests had been made.
"We have leads and tips from intelligence, which is useful as we have virtually no evidence or witnesses," regional army spokesman, Colonel Prinya Chaidilok told Reuters.
Army chief, General Anupong Paochinda, has rejected claims of military involvement, saying rebels were trying to cause a rift between Muslims and the region's Buddhist minority.
INHUMANE ACT
Thailand's deputy prime minister in charge of security, Suthep Thaungsuban, said the attack was an "inhumane act" to punish villagers who had cooperated with the authorities.
"I have asked commanders to deploy more troops in villages where people have a good relationship with the government, because they cannot defend themselves," Suthep told reporters in Bangkok.
Chaiwat Satha-Anand, an academic and former member of the south's now-defunct National Reconciliation Committee, said Buddhists armed and trained by the military to defend their villages could be behind the attack.
"Who has guns in the deep south? he said. "We may blame soldiers, police or insurgents, but there are also armed Buddhist civilians organised and trained by state organisations."
Wednesday's attack came amid an escalation of violence in Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani, where 20 people have been killed and over 40 wounded since Friday in shootings and bombings targeting civilians and the military.
The region was a Muslim sultanate until annexed by Buddhist Thailand a century ago. Local Muslims speak a Malay dialect and have more in common with their neighbours in Malaysia. (Additional reporting by Kittipong Soonprasert in Bangkok) (Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Jeremy Laurence)
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