Two men claiming to head a group responsible for the southern insurgency said on national TV on Thursday they had agreed to an immediate halt in attacks. "We have agreed to a cease-fire," a spokesman for the unnamed group said in a statement aired on TV Channel 5 on Thursday noon. "Our group will now support peace in southern Thailand." The group claimed that the cease-fire began last Monday in order to restore peace in the region. The group also called on underground movement to stop all kinds of their operations. Several killings and bombings have been reported since Monday, including two bombs near the Yala municipal headquarters on Wednesday. The statement was made in Yawi, and was translated into Thai.
Earlier, former army chief Gen Chattha Thanajaro said he had met with a group called Ruam Pak Tai Khong Prathet Thai, or Thailand's United Southern Underground group, and agreed to end violence. "They must prove their intention to cease their activities for the sake of sustainable peace in the south," he said in the broadcast. " Everything is not 100 per cent certain," he said.