SOUTHERN VIOLENCE
ISARA NEWS CENTRE, ABDULLOH BENJAKAT & MUHAMMAD AYUB PATHAN
A tearful mother hugs her soldier son as she sees him off on deployment to the far South. He is one of 199 new recruits at Chiang Rai military camp being sent to the strife-torn region. |
Non-violence, dialogue and an efficient justice system are essential to restoring peace in the deep South, the Working Group on Justice for Peace said yesterday.
The ongoing violence has perpetuated insecurity and the loss of innocent lives, including those of young people, the group said in a statement.
It said the separatist unrest in the Muslim-majority region had caused agony to the families of those who have died in the violence.
The statement followed a bomb blast and an ensuing ambush of a pick-up truck carrying three rangers and three female students in Pattani's Nong Chik district on Monday.
The attackers killed two rangers but spared the lives of three students wounded in the explosion.
The group's chairwoman, Angkhana Neelaphaijit, said the identity of those behind the ongoing violence remained a mystery, while civilians and young people are the targets of attacks.
Mrs Angkhana said her group was totally opposed to a violent approach to solving the problem. Instead, peaceful efforts should be intensified while mutual trust should be developed to achieve lasting peace in the region, she said.
She added that her group will keep a closer watch on the fairness of the prosecution process against rebel suspects.
Violence continued in Pattani as a couple were shot dead and burned in Mayo district yesterday morning.
The victims were identified as Chatchawan Sornjamnong, 34, and Ampai, workers at a rubber timber factory.
Police said the couple and their son rode a motorcycle to the son's school to drop him off before going to work.
Two men rode up beside them on a motorcycle and the pillion rider opened fire on the couple.
Chatchawan lost control of the motorcycle, which plunged into a nearby ditch.
The attackers walked over to the ditch, shot the couple to death and set their bodies on fire. The couple's son managed to escape, police said.
In Yala, executives from 36 schools in Kabang and Yaha districts yesterday attended a meeting on security issues in light of the fatal shooting of a school principal in Raman district on July 2.
Piyaporn Maneerat, chairman of the Kabang-Yaha Teachers' Association, said what teachers wanted most was for the authorities to be consistent in deploying of security protection for them.
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