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| Southeast Asia |
| 5 dead as southern Thai jihad continues |
| 2007-05-05 |
| Five people, including two Muslim children, have been killed by suspected Islamic rebels in separate attacks in Thailand's violence-torn south, police said Saturday. A group of militants ambushed a motorcycle late Friday and shot dead a 45-year-old Muslim man and his two children -- an 11-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy, in Yala, one of three Muslim-majority provinces. Also in Yala, a 37-year-old Muslim man was hacked to death by militants in public view at a market late Friday, police said. They also found the body of a man in a river in the province. While the case was still under investigation, police suspected he was a victim of Thailand's three-year insurgency in the south bordering Malaysia. Police said several hundred Muslim women and children also blocked a highway in Yala Saturday as they continued their sit-in for the third consecutive day to demand authorities release suspected militants. Some 20 kilometres (12 miles) away from the sit-in, hundreds of Buddhists also took to the streets, demanding the Muslims end the road blockade. Plus: Separately, two schools in Yala were burnt down on Friday, the latest to be targeted in a wave of attacks on schools and teachers seen as symbols of the government in faraway Bangkok. And: In a related development Thai Army Commander Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin said Saturday that the foreign ministry will coordinate with British authorities to verify a report about a terrorist threat in Bangkok. 'We will have to take precautionary measures whether there is any grounds to the report or not,Â’ he told reporters. Assistant Army Commander Gen. Saprang Kanlayanamitr said Thursday that British officials had uncovered plans to stage terrorist attacks in Bangkok. He provided no specific information about the alleged plans. |
| Posted by:ryuge |