...

Two policemen killed in southern Thailand, two officials wounded

Other News Materials 20 April 2008 14:50 (UTC +04:00)

Suspected separatists killed two policemen in Thailand's deep South, where more than 3,000 people have died in sectarian violence over the past four years. ( dpa )

Unknown assailants fatally shot the two policemen and wounded two election officials in Bajau district of Narathiwat province during a local administration election, said Colonel Acra Tiproch, spokesman for the 4th Army region that includes Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces.

Acra said authorities had been tipped off by army intelligence that attacks were planned Sunday.

In Yala, a bomb exploded Sunday morning near the staff living quarters of the State Railway of Thailand, injuring up to 13 people, police Lieutenant General Adul Saengsingkeow said.

The attacks were the latest acts of violence terrorizing the region, where more than 3,000 people have fallen victim to clashes, explosions, beheadings and assassinations since early 2004.

The three provinces bordering Malaysia comprised the independent Islamic sultanate of Pattani more than 200 years ago before it fell under Bangkok's rule. More than 80 per cent of the three provinces' 2 million people are Muslims, making the region an anomaly in predominantly Buddhist Thailand.

A separatist struggle has simmered in the area for decades but took a turn for the worse in January 2004 when Muslim militants attacked an Army depot and stole 300 weapons, prompting a crackdown that further inflamed the local population against the government.

Latest

Latest