Gunmen slay TAO chief at his house

Gunmen slay TAO chief at his house

A local leader has been killed in a gun attack in front of his house in Yala's Muang district.

Madolor Salae, 56, chairman of Porseng tambon administration organisation in Muang district, was getting out of his white pickup truck to close the gate of his house in tambon Sateng yesterday morning when two men on a motorcycle drove up and fired multiple shots at him with a pistol before fleeing.

The TAO leader was hit five times in the right ribs.

Pol Col Chamlong Suwalak, chief of Muang police station, and a team of officers went to the scene at around 7.30am. Bloodstains were found near the vehicle. Mr Madolor had already been taken to Yala Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Police are looking into whether the attack involved a political conflict or the southern unrest.

The murder is the latest violent incident in the Muslim-dominated southernmost provinces, which is raising new concerns among state authorities and local communities.

The Buddhist network in Yala recently asked the government for better protection and financial help for families of victims.

Some 300 supporters of the network, headed by Somnuek Rakhang, met officials of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre to call for 7 million baht in compensation for each affected family.

Their calls stem from a spate of recent attacks that target Buddhist villagers, including the killing of four people in Narathiwat's Rueso district last week and a couple in Songkhla's Thepha district on Feb 28.

The pair were killed and their bodies dumped in the Thepha River. Police investigators believe the attackers wanted their car to make a car bomb.

National Human Rights commissioner Chatsuda Chandeeying expressed sorrow for the couple during her visit to the South to attend their funeral as well as visit a 12-year-old student being treated at Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra Hospital in Narathiwat after being shot in the knee.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered authorities to make a swift search for the attackers.

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