PATTANI - Watcharin Nuansai has renewed her plea for insurgents to end the violence in the Deep South after her husband and two-year-old son were killed in a gun attack in Pattani on Wednesday night.
Watcharin Nuansai weeps at the funeral for her husband and son at Wat Noppawongsaram in Muang district, Pattani, on Friday. (Photo by Parez Lohasan)
"I would like to beg the militants to stop their cruel actions, let my boy and husband be the last [victims] of the ongoing insurgency in the Southern border provinces. Don’t let there be any more people lost. Please stop already," she said.
A funeral for her husband Saman Hiangma, 38, and her child Jakarin was held at Wat Noppawongsaram in Muang district on Friday.
Mrs Watcharin, 34, said she would move back to her home province, Buri Ram, along with her parents.
"[I am] not staying here anymore because [the shooting] was too brutal and has aggrieved my family. I am returning home," she said.
Investigators said witnesses to Thursday's attack that killed six civilians would be called in for interrogation after the funeral. They will also be asked to verify the gunmen from photos of possible suspects.
If none of the photos matched the witnesses' descriptions, then officers will create facial composite sketches based on statements to identify the assailants.
Preliminary investigation suggested that an insurgent group led by Masorae Duerama was responsible for the crime.
In the attack on Labour Day, four armed men on two motorbikes sprayed bullets into the grocery store owned by Mrs Watcharin and her husband in tambon Rusamelae in Muang district. Six civilians, including the 2-year-old boy and Saman, were shot dead and one was injured.
The attackers also fired rounds at a nearby garage before they fled, damaging the area around it and several vehicles.