NARATHIWAT: A village defence volunteer was shot dead in a drive-by attack in Tak Bai district on Saturday night, police said.
The shooting occurred at about 9.30pm while Abdulroning Baelo, 51, a defence volunteer at Ban Chabaepa, the Moo 7 village in tambon Ko Sathon, was returning home on a motorcycle after a night prayer at a village mosque.
Two men followed him on another motorcycle and the pillion rider fired four shots at him with a 9mm pistol. Abdulroning was hit in the body and the head. Killed instantly, he fell to the ground with the motorcycle.
Police were investigating to establish whether the attack was from a personal conflict or related to insurgency.
In nearby Yala province, at about 1.30am on Sunday an unknown number of attackers threw a pipe bomb and opened fire at the base of a defence unit of tambon Budi in Muang district.
Defence volunteers manning the base returned fire. A brief gunfight ensued before the attackers retreated. There were no reports of casualties.
Police led by Pol Col Piyapat Thongpanlertkul, the Muang police chief, rushed to the scene to investigate.