- Title: THAILAND: Two killed in attacks in south
- Date: 8th March 2011
- Summary: WOUNDED PERSON IN HOSPITAL VARIOUS OF INJURIES
- Embargoed: 23rd March 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Thailand, Thailand
- Country: Thailand
- Reuters ID: LVA2HBDKK3Z7BKJ7LHNRNCN7BITY
- Story Text: A 64-year-old former policeman was jogging with friends when he was gunned down by two unidentified assailants in Pattani province in Thailand's restive south on Sunday (March 6), police said. Another policeman and two teachers were seriously wounded.
In a separate attack a 23-year-old Buddhist man was killed and his mother wounded in a drive-by shooting in the same province, police said.
More than 4,500 people have been killed since 2004 as ethnic Malay Muslims fight for autonomy from Thailand's Buddhist majority in the rubber-rich region, just a few hours drive from some of Thailand's top tourist destinations.
The attacks followed the murder of a Buddhist monk on Saturday (March 5) in a gun attack that wounded two other monks, one seriously, as they collected alms.
Local Muslims largely oppose the presence of tens of thousands of police, soldiers and state-armed Buddhist guards in the three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, a region that was part an independent Muslim sultanate until annexed by Thailand a century ago. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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