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| Southeast Asia |
| Thai official, three deputies slain in drive-by |
| 2012-05-04 |
| A local government official and his three deputies were slain in a drive-by shooting by unidentified attackers in Pattani province yesterday. The four victims, two of them women, were travelling on the Pattani-Narathiwat road 1 p.m. when a pickup truck carrying five men armed with assault rifles began to follow them. Witnesses said the truck overtook the local officials' car and the men in the back of the vehicle opened fire. Their car veered off the road and hit a tree. Two assailants approached the car and shot the four officials at point-blank range, killing them on the spot. The attackers took a long-barrelled shotgun, a .38 caliber pistol and cash from the car before fleeing. The official and his deputies had been carrying cash to pay village leaders and defense volunteers' wages. Meanwhile, a high-level delegation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will visit Thailand from next Monday to Sunday. Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said the delegation will investigate the security situation in the South and review government policies on the administration and development of the southern border provinces. Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha said the army has nothing to hide from the OIC. The 4th Army will explain its operations and any errors it had made. |
| Posted by:ryuge |