BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Suspected Islamic insurgents shot and killed five soldiers as they ate dinner Wednesday at a military outpost in southern Thailand, officials said. The attack came hours after the beheaded body of a villager was found in another southern province, a killing also blamed on insurgents. The beheading was the 11th reported in Thailand since Islamic separatists revived a violent insurgency in January 2004. The violence has claimed more than 1,000 lives.
Two other soldiers were wounded in the attack on the outpost, said army spokesman Col. Somkuan Saengpataranetr. The attackers arrived in a pick up truck and motorcycles and fired at the men with assault rifles, Somkuan said. They led laid metal pikes and logs on the road to thwart pursuers as they fled, he said. The gunmen seized seven assault rifles and one pistol from the small outpost, said Col. Thanongsuk Wangsupha, the district's military chief. The soldiers were eating dinner when they were attacked, said a police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not an official spokesman.
The shooting took place in the Cho Airong district of Narathiwat province, a hotbed of insurgent activity about 710 miles south of Bangkok, near the border with Malaysia. The victims were members of the paramilitary Ranger force, as were four other soldiers killed in an ambush last week in nearby Yala province.
The remains of the still-unidentified beheaded man, about 50-years-old, were found along a road in Yala on Wednesday morning, along with a note saying the killing was in retaliation for the arrest of innocent people from a village in the province, police Lt. Sirichai Suksaran said. The man's remains have been sent for an autopsy, Sirichai said.
"The gruesome killing that marked the first day of Ramadan shows that the insurgents ignore the principle of not sinning during the holy month," said provincial Gov. Boonyasith Suwanarat. | Since when is killing infidels a sin? |
Ramadan, Islam's holy month, started Wednesday in parts of Asia. |