Three rubber farmers shot dead in restive Thai south

BANGKOK - SUSPECT Muslim separatists on Sunday shot dead three rubber farmers who were trading at their farm in southern Thailand, police said.
'The three men were all Muslim. They all died at the scene,'a police officer said. No further details were immediately available.
The killings took place in Yala, one of Thailand's three southernmost provinces, which are strugging with a low-level Muslim insurgency. The violence that erupted in 2004 has claimed more than 4,600 lives, often in bombings and drive-by shootings.
Last Monday, a rubber tapper and his wife were shot dead by suspected militants in the region and four bombs wounded 12 people, including members of the security forces.
Some analysts thought that was a warning signal to the incoming government after a general election on July 3, noting that violent incidents often tended to rise after elections.
However, even before the election, there had been a spike in the number and scale of attacks in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces, with Muslim villagers, soldiers and police among the victims of roadside blasts and ambushes. -- REUTERS

4 Tentera Thai cedera di Yala

YALA, 16 JULAI- Sebuah kereta tentera dalam perjalanan pulang ke kem mereka diserang oleh Pejuang Pembebasan Patani dengan meletupkan bom seberat 20kg dan menyerang dengan melepaskan tembakan ke arah tentera setelah berbalas tembakan selama 15 minit, akhirnya pejuang meninggal kawasan pertempuran itu dan mengakibatkan empat daripada lima tentera thai cedera. Kejadian berlaku dalam kawasan Bala daerah Raman.

NARATHIWAT, 16 JULAI - Penyerang bermotosikal melepaskan tembakan kearah tentera thai, pihak tentera thai membalas tembakan menyebabkan kedua-dua penyerang cedera dan ditangkap oleh pihak thai, kejadian berlaku dalam kawasan Bukit daerah Chak I Rong

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