Attack in Thailand Kills 6 Buddhist Villagers and Injures 10

Narathiwat, Thailand (CHAKRA) – In Thailand’s South, six people were shot dead and ten police officers were wounded by a roadside bombs during the latest attack by militants.  Most of the people attacked during this outbreak were in serious condition and taken immediately to the hospital.

A police vehicle was targeted with an explosive device while they were rushing to the Bacho district in the province Narathiwat in response to a report of attacks there.

Six Buddhist villagers who had been out hunting were later found shot dead.  The suspects for these deaths are Islamic militants.

A separatist insurgency which began six years ago in Thailand’s troubled Muslim majority southern provinces bordering Malaysia has left more than 4,000 people dead, mostly buddhists, as well as thousands more wounded.

The militants who never directly state their goals and intentions in public have targeted Buddhists,  police officers and civilians in the southern provinces to maintain a shocking campaign against the control of the central government.

The troubled southern region was an independent Malay Muslim sultanate until it was captures in 1902 by majority Buddhist Thailand and the tensions have never stopped or decreased since then.  These issues only escalated into the insurgency in January, 2004.