A provincial level inquiry has begun into Sunday's controverial shootings in Pattani, as a prominent human rights activist demands Deputy Prime Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa take responsibility for giving out inaccurate information about the killing of people. travelling in a pick-up by paramilitary rangers.
Muslim men on Monday bury the body of a man who was shot dead by military rangers in Pattani on Sunday night.
Pattani governor Theera Mintrasak said on Tuesday that the committee of inquiry will investigate the incident in Nong Chik district on Sunday night in which four people were killed and five wounded.
Mr Theera said the committee will find out what actually happened in order to ensure justice.
The inquiry was expected to be completed within 30 days. Legal action would be taken against anyone found to be in the wrong, including government authorities, he said.
The Pattani governor, Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre secretary-general Tawee Sodsong and provincial police chief Pichet Pitisethaphan this morning visited the families of those killed and wounded in the shooting incident.
They gave 100,000 baht to each of the families of those killed and an undisclosed amount to each of the wounded.
Lt-Gen Udomchai Thammasarorat, the Army Region 4 commander, on Tuesday morning held a press conference to give details of the shootings.
He said early on Sunday night assailants fired M79 grenades at the operational base of Ranger Company 4302 at Ban Nam Dam in tambon Pulo Puyo of Nong Chik. The attackers quickly fled.
The base radioed for help and ranger units were despatched to intercept the attackers. At Ban Kayi, a pick-up truck carrying a number of people was stopped for a search.
Some of the men on board got out of the pick-up truck and then opened fire at the rangers, he said. A firefight followed. Four people were killed and five wounded in the clash. He made no mention of military casualties.
Lt-Gen Udomchai said he is responsible for military operations in the region but does not want this sort of incident to happen because those involved in the incident were all Thais.
He said his aim is to safeguard the people's lives and property.
The rangers had followed his orders, that they counterattack if their base is attacked.
Since there were deaths and injuries as a result of the action, he had to accept responsibility, Lt-Gen Udomchai said.
Based on the outcome of the investigation, those affected by the incident will get compensation. The Region 4 Internal Security Operations Command strictly complies with the law and human rights principles, he said.
Religious leaders and relatives of the dead and wounded could rest assured that they will get justice within the scope of the law, he added.
Justice for Peace Foundation chairwoman Angkhana Neelapaijit
Angkhana Neelapaijit, chairwoman of the Justice for Peace Foundation, on Tuesday called on Deputy Prime Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa to show responsibility for giving out incorrect information on Sunday's shootings.
Mrs Angkhana said Gen Yutthasak had said in an interview on Monday that those killed and wounded in the shootings were believed to have caused unrest. despite the fact that they were villagers who were on the way to prayers at a funeral.
She said the shooting happened on the route they were taking. A survivor said when their pickup truck arrived at the checkpoint (at Ban Kayi) no security officials showed up to conduct a search. Instead, the vehicle suddenly came under fire, causing deaths and injuries.
What happened had made local people angry and accentuated their distrust of government authorities, Mrs Angkhana said.
"This shooting will make it more difficult for the government to win the trust of the people. Gen Yutthasak and the Region 4 Internal Security Operations Command must come out and admit a mistake was made, and declare publicly that the culprits will be punished within the justice system. They should not talk only about reparations," she said.
Mrs Angkhana said the fact that the Nong Chik district chief was hampered from reaching the scene of the shooting to find out what had happened indicated that there was an intention on the part of the authorities to cover up the mistake.
She called on the government to set up a committee comprising representatives of the state, the people's sector, respected religious leaders and representatives of those affected, to investigate and establish the facts surrounding the incident.
The committee should be empowered to invite the authorities to testify and explain the shooting with forensic evidence to back them up.
DNA tests should be made on the weapons claimed to have been found in the pickup to make it clear whether those killed or wounded had actually handled them, Mrs Angkhana said.
Meanwhile, an unconfirmed report citing sources in the area said that the nearly 200 paramilitary rangers at the operational base at Ban Nam Dam in tambon Pulo Puyo had been ordered to move within 24 hours to Ingkhayuthaboriharn military camp in Pattani's Nong Chik district.
They were being replaced by 200 soldiers of Company 2206 of the 15th Signal Battalion from Phaya Intira military camp in tambon Huay Nam Yen of Nong Chik district, the report said.
There were also shootings in Nong Chik district on Monday night.
About 7.45pm, two armed men travelling on a motorcycle opened fire at houses along a road in tambon Tuyong, causing damage to three homes but inflicting no casualties.
About the same time, assailants fired an M79 grenade at the base of a police special operations unit at Ban Thadan in tambon Don Rak, but caused no casualties.
In Narathiwat on Tuesday, a defence volunteer was shot dead in Bacho district by an armed man who took his shotgun and pistol.
Police said Buraheng Maha, 58, was working in a garage at Ban Korae in tambon Bare Tai when a group of men arrived in a pick-up truck.
One of the men walked from the vehicle to Buraheng and then shot him in the head with a .38 pistol, killing him instantly.
The man then searched Buraheng's pickup, stole a shotgun and a 9mm pistol, and fled on the waiting pickup.
Police were investigating the incident.
More than 4,500 people have been killed and about 9,000 hurt in the three southern border provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala since the violence erupted afresh in January 2004.