Recently in Thailand Category

Since Atris Hussein almost certainly believes that "there is not a catastrophe in the world that is not the handiwork of the Jews," this paranoid lunacy probably seems perfectly reasonable to him.

"Swede arrested in Thai terror probe claims he was set up by Mossad," from Fox News, January 19 (thanks to Kenneth):

BANGKOK -- A Swedish man of Lebanese descent accused of planning a terror attack in Bangkok says he is innocent and claims Israeli intelligence service Mossad set him up.

Atris Hussein, 47, who was charged Monday with violating a weapons control law after a large amount of fertilizer and ammonium nitrate -- which can be used to make a bomb -- was found in a property he rented, told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet he was, "100 percent innocent."

"A lot of the material police found in my storage facility had been placed there, most likely by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad," Hussein told the newspaper from Bangkok Remand Prison, where he is being held.

The father of four, who worked as a hairdresser in Gothenburg for 10 years before moving back to his native Lebanon, claims he was only involved in regular business activities involving the import and export of ice packs, paper and fans.

"The [ice packs] contain ammonia," Hussein said. "We've never traded in fertilizer. It must have been placed in our storage facility by someone, probably Mossad."

However, Thai police believe Hussein has links to the Iranian-backed, Lebanon-based militant group Hizbollah. They claim Hussein told officers that he and another man arrived in Thailand late last year with plans to stage an attack in Bangkok.

He allegedly told police that the bomb plot was called off when authorities caught wind of it.

Hussein, who used to run a business selling miniature trees, denies all the allegations and believes he was singled out because he is a Shiite Muslim and because of his political beliefs.

"I voted for the Social Democrats when I lived in Sweden," he said. "That may have made me look suspicious in the eyes of Mossad. They had an eye on me."

As one astute commenter observed the other day, surely this is about all that Israeli occupation of Thailand. An update on this story. "Thai police find large cache of bomb-making materials," from BBC News, January 16 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Police in Thailand say they have found a large supply of materials for making bombs, following the detention of a suspect with alleged links to Hezbollah.

The suspect led police to a building containing more than 300 boxes of fertiliser and ammonium nitrate.

The raid follows the terror alert issued by the US and Israel warning citizens to avoid tourist sites.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said that the situation was under control.

The suspect, who was detained last week, is said to be a Lebanese man with a Swedish passport.

Police say the man has links to Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based Shia Islamist movement backed by Syria and Iran that the US considers to be a terrorist organisation.

A second suspect is also believed to have left Thailand.

A police spokesman told local media that the chemicals were going to be shipped out of Thailand for use in an unspecified third country.

The US embassy still has not lifted the warning it issued on Friday stating that Americans should "exercise caution when visiting public areas where large groups of Western tourists gather".

This was a rather big deal in spite of the general lack of reporting in the American media: eleven countries issued travel warnings. An update on this story. "Thai police hunt second bomb plot suspect in Bangkok," by Kate Hodal for the Guardian, January 15 (thanks to Kenneth):

Police are hunting a terror suspect believed to be at large in Bangkok after the arrest of a man in an alleged bomb plot that has so far forced 11 foreign embassies to issue travel warnings to Thailand.

The national police chief, General Priewpan Damapong, said the suspected bomb plotters – two Lebanese men thought to be linked to pro-Iranian Hezbollah militants – called off the scheme after police caught wind of the plot and arrested one of them on Thursday.

Thai police – who are warning visitors in tourist-heavy areas such as Khao San Road to exercise caution – believe the suspect is in Bangkok but are also upping security searches in nearby provinces and other popular tourist destinations such as Pattaya and Phuket.

Thailand's metropolitan police spokesman Piya Ayutho said: "From intelligence reports, the attackers will use explosives, so the public is urged to be vigilant in risk areas, or in buildings visited by a lot of foreigners, and to particularly look for vehicles that have been left in certain areas for a long time."

The prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, said she had ordered the Thai army, police and security forces to remain vigilant and inform her of any developments, according to the Bangkok Post.

Sketches released late on Friday night by Thai police showed the suspect as a white Middle-Eastern man with short hair and stubble, around 1.8m (5ft 9in) tall. Anyone who believes they have seen the suspect is urged to report to the nearest police station or call 191 from within Thailand.

Priewpan said the man in custody, a Swedish national of Lebanese origin identified as Attiris Hussein, told police an attack had been planned but was called off when police learned about it. Hussein was detained by police on Thursday at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport while trying to leave the country.

Authorities said charges had not been pressed against Hussein because of lack of evidence that he had committed an offence.

According to the Bangkok Post, Hussein told Thai officials that although he was a member of Hezbollah, he was not a member of the group's militant arm.

Thus underscoring what a flimsy distinction that is.

The alleged bomb plot, combined with Hussein's arrest, caused many foreign embassies, including those of the US, UK and Israel, to issue travel alerts for Thailand, warning that foreign terrorists could be planning to launch attacks in tourist areas in Bangkok in the near future. The US called the threat "Bangkok-specific" and "credible".

The warnings upset Thai authorities, who were withholding the news "since it could have an impact on tourism and cause panic among citizens", according to the defence minister, Yuthasak Sasiprapha.

Thai security agencies said they had known of the terrorist plot since December and had since been tracing a group of suspects thought to be involved.

With apologies as always to Dr. Seuss: Oh, the places you'll "misunderstand" Islam! "Thailand arrests Hezbollah suspect after terror tipoff," by Haroon Siddique for the Guardian, January 13:

Police in Thailand are questioning a suspected Hezbollah member, with the development coming as the US embassy warned American nationals of the threat of a terrorist attack in the country.

The suspected Hezbollah member, a Lebanese man, was arrested on Thursday after a tipoff from Israel about a potential attack in Bangkok, the Thai deputy prime minister, Chalerm Yoobamrung, said, adding that police had stepped up security.

Chalerm told Reuters: "A Lebanese suspect from the Hezbollah group has been taken into custody by Thai officials and police are investigating further.

"Following concern raised by the Israeli embassy about a possible attack by a group of Lebanese terrorists in Bangkok, Thai police officials have been co-ordinating with Israeli officials since before the new year."

He said the authorities had been following two Lebanese men, but did not say what had happened to the other, and also suggested that Thailand had no strong evidence linking the men to a planned attack.

"Technically, the two men have not committed any crimes under the Thai law, so we could only use the immigration law to keep this one suspect in custody," he said.

On Friday, the US embassy issued an emergency message warning that "foreign terrorists may be currently looking to conduct attacks against tourist areas in Bangkok in the near future. US citizens are urged to exercise caution when visiting public areas where large groups of western tourists gather in Bangkok".

Thailand's defence minister, Yuthasak Sasiprapha, said: "Thai officials had not intended to release the news at this time, since it could have an impact on tourism and cause panic among citizens."

He added that the US embassy was naturally concerned about its citizens, and said Thai and US intelligence officials were monitoring other individuals. The authorities were applying extra precautionary measures in areas popular with tourists as well as Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, he added.

Yuthasak identified the Israeli embassy and synagogues as possible targets, while adding that intelligence reports said the planned attacks might be related to US activities against Iran....

Nothing -- nothing -- shows the gallantry and fortitude of the intrepid mujahedin and the nobility of their cause like... beating up on a bunch of Buddhist monks. "Nine injured in Pattani violence, another killed in Yala," from The Nation, November 21 (thanks to Kenneth):

Three monks, three policemen and three local residents were slightly wounded after a homemade bomb went off in front of a laundry on Charoen Pradit Road in Pattani's Muang district on Monday morning.

The monks from Wat Khajorn Pracharam, guarded by three policemen, were collecting alms when the three-kilogram bomb, hidden under a flowerpot near Nuch Laundry Shop was detonated by remote control and exploded when the group was about five metres away, said Muang Pattani Police Station Superintendent Pol Col Somporn Meesuk.

The wounded - Phra Jin Panichkul, 52, Phra Yongyuth Khaoborisut, 35, Phra Worapong Sutthipong, 54, Pol Cpl Thanom Khonwai, 29, Pol Cpl Kampanart Malawan, 28, Pol Cpl Prakarn Chedipeng, 26, as well as civilians Chat Suk-ubol, 72, Chid Suk-ubol, 70 and Yeun Sukhonkhet, 72 - were rushed to Pattani hospital. Police suspected the bomb was laid by insurgents with the aim of creating chaos in the region.

Pattani Deputy Governor Lertkiat Wongphopan later commented that the attack on monks and monk-protection officers reflected the insurgents' intention to attack symbolic targets and to discredit the Thai security force, as the incident took place on the route included in the security plan. They also wished to create disunity in this multi-culture society and attract public attention.

In neighbouring Yala province, an explosion took place in a shack inside a banana plantation in Tambon Wang Phraya, Raman district, at 10.45am on Monday morning. Police found the body of Yako Ya-ngo, 55, in front of the shack. Nearby was a 70cm-deep 80cm-wide hole from the five-kilogram bomb impact and pieces of the metal box, electric wiring and the battery. The investigation revealed that Yako, a security volunteer for Raman district, was inspecting his banana plantation when he stepped on the bomb and detonated it. As Yako had been shot at twice before, police suspect southern insurgents were behind the attack, possibly the group led by suspected insurgent Kama Chaichana, which operates in the district and is wanted in connection with several national security cases.

Jihad against Buddhist hunters. "Thai police say insurgent bomb kills 6 in south," from AP, November 2 (thanks to Maxwell):

PATTANI, Thailand (AP) — Police say suspected Muslim insurgents in southern Thailand killed six civilians in a bomb attack on their vehicle in the south.

Police investigator Heraman Chedi says the explosion occurred Wednesday in Narathiwat's Ra-ngae district, and attackers raked the vehicle with machine-gunfire afterward.

Heraman says the victims were Buddhist hunters headed to a nearby forest, and one survived and was taken to a local hospital....

The intrepid mujahedin, taking the fight to shops, hotels, and schools. "Bombings in Thai south kill 3, wound dozens," from the Associated Press, October 26 (thanks to Twostellas):

PATTANI, Thailand (AP) — Thailand's military said more than a dozen coordinated bomb attacks in the country's insurgency-plagued south Tuesday killed at least three people and injured dozens.

The south is "insurgency plagued." But is it "restive?"

The military's Internal Security Operations Command said suspected Muslim insurgents put bombs at 16 locations across the southern town of Yala, including a school, shops and hotels. Authorities defused five of the bombs.

The agency said three people were killed, 14 severely injured and 31 slightly injured. The explosions also caused power outages.

More than 4,700 people have been killed in Thailand's southernmost Muslim-dominated provinces since an Islamic insurgency flared in 2004.

Tuesday's attacks occurred on the anniversary of the 2004 suppression of an anti-government protest in Tak Bai in neighboring Narathiwat province. Seven demonstrators were fatally shot and 78 others died of asphyxiation after being piled on top of one another on military trucks to be taken to a detention center.

And so they take the fight to easy civilian targets?

Internal Security Operations Command deputy director Akra Tiproj said one of the dead was believed to be a bomber because his body was found on a motorcycle that exploded. Planting bombs on motorcycles is a common tactic of the insurgents.

Beyond the imposition of Islamic law, which is the fundamental aim of jihad in all of its forms, the next strikingly common trait among jihadist groups is the utter lack of concern for civilian casualties. Fatwa after vague fatwa about "innocents" won't stop them: it all depends on your definition of "innocent."

"Amnesty Accuses Thai Muslim Insurgents of War Crimes," from Voice of America News, September 27 (thanks to Twostellas):

Amnesty International says Muslim rebels waging an insurgent campaign in three southern provinces of Thailand have committed war crimes by deliberately targeted civilians.

Nearly 5,000 people have been killed in the provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat since 2004. In a report released Tuesday, the human rights group says civilians from all walks of life, including teachers, civil servants and farmers, have been indiscriminately targeted in the attacks....

It gets worse: who says they were "indiscriminately" targeted? Often, civilians appear to have been targeted because they are Buddhists. On other occasions, the jihadists have sought to make an example of Muslims friendly to or representative of the current government, and to attempt to intimidate the population into submission.

SUNGAI GOLOK (Southern Thailand): Three Malaysians, including a child, were killed and at least 50 others injured after three bombs exploded in this popular border town.

The blasts occurred along Jalan Cheroen Ket, a popular nightlife haunt, near a hotel and a cultural centre. The first blast took place at 7.30pm Friday (Malaysian time), according to residents.

Sungai Golok deputy mayor Rusdi Che Omar on Saturday said police identified the dead as Foong Foo Keah, 45, from Kuantan, Pahang, Wong Hong Yep, 63 and his three-year-old grandson Wong Kai Sien, both from Jalan Hamzah, Kota Baru.

A Thai national, an unidentified 38-year-old volunteer worker, was also killed in the blasts.

Wong and his grandson arrived here with friends on Thursday to do some shopping.

Part of "a higher frequency of attacks with a greater intensity of violence in recent months." "Wounded troops shot dead after bomb in Thai south," from Agence France-Presse, September 15:

Five soldiers were killed after suspected insurgents opened fire on those injured in a roadside bombing in Thailand's restive deep south on Thursday, police said. The blast targeted an army truck carrying six troops in Pattani province, one of three provinces in the Muslim-majority deep south where a seven-year rebellion has claimed thousands of lives.

Police said all five of the dead had suffered injuries in the explosion, but had also been shot in the head after apparently being dragged from the wreckage. One soldier remains in a critical condition.

Around 4,800 people have been killed in near-daily attacks since shadowy rebels launched an uprising in early 2004, according to the latest figures from Deep South Watch, an independent research group that monitors the conflict.

The organisation has said it has seen a higher frequency of attacks with a greater intensity of violence in recent months, with authorities and both Buddhist and Muslim civilians targeted.

Also on Thursday, police in the neighbouring province of Narathiwat said suspected militants had bombed and set fire to an empty, brand-new police station, just two weeks before it was due to open. No one was believed to have been hurt in the attack.

Explosives planted in a cooking-gas tank were detonated on the ground floor and a fire was lit, damaging walls and stairs, but police said they had not yet moved any furniture into the station, which was due to open on October 1.

"An attack on an unmanned station has never happened before," said police colonel Apirak Sangkhao.

Police will now have to check whether the structure is safe before they move into the building.

The Thai government on Tuesday extended emergency rule in the region, which borders Malaysia.

And the soldiers who protect them, in a simultaneous strike against the law enforcement of a non-Islamic government, financial support for the monks, and a what is seen as a competing faith being visibly practiced in what the jihadists consider their territory.

The fact that Buddhist monks have to be protected by soldiers speaks volumes about the situation in southern Thailand. After all, nothing says "tolerance" like beating up on monks. Or are we to trust the "tolerance" will come after the jihadists get everything they want? "Suspected insurgents kill 2 in Thailand's south," from the Associated Press, August 23 (thanks to Twostellas):

PATTANI (AP) - Police say suspected Islamist insurgents have killed two soldiers and wounded 14 other people in two separate attacks in Thailand's violence-plagued south.

Police Col Somporn Meesuk says a roadside bomb in Pattani province killed one military officer and injured eight other officers, two Buddhist monks and three civilians.

Col Somporn says the bomb exploded as the officers were accompanying the monks on almsgiving rounds at dawn on Tuesday.

Police Col Kritsada Kaewjandee says another soldier died and one was injured in Yala province on Tuesday when a roadside bomb detonated as they walked past.

The jihad against Thailand grinds on as usual. What it shares with jihadist movements far removed from Thailand is the intent to impose Islamic rule -- the aim of jihad in all its forms -- and the deliberate and unabashed targeting of civilians, as we have also seen from the Taliban, Hizballah, al-Qaeda, al-Shabaab, Hamas, and any number of other jihadist groups.

"Teacher slain, bomb attacks in Pattani," from the Bangkok Post, August 3 (thanks to Twostellas):

A 50-year-old teacher was shot dead in a drive-by shooting but two bombs targeting soldiers failed in Pattani on Wednesday morning.

The teacher was attacked by two men on a motorcycle in Pattani’s Muang district, Pol Col Somporn Meesuk, chief of Muang Pattani police station, said.

He said Noppadon Sirimonthon, 50, was riding his motorcycle to the Tanyongluloh community school in Muang district when a gunman riding pillion on another motorcycle fired three bullets at him with a 9mm pistol.

Noppadon fell from his bike, the gunman returned and fired four more bullets at him. He died at the spot.

He was the 140th teacher killed in the deep South since the unrest started in 2004.

Police blamed separatist militants.

Militants also exploded a motorcycle bomb targeting soldiers in Pattani on Wednesday morning, but it had no effect because the troops were in a bullet-proofed vehicle, reports said.

The home-made bomb was concealed inside a motorcycle parked on the roadside on the 410 Yala-Pattani Road in front of the Ban Person mosque in Pattani’s Yarang district and exploded about 8.10am as an amoured pickup truck carrying six soldiers of No 21 Pattani special force was passing by.

The explosion damaged the vehicle but no soldiers were wounded.

Earlier, another bomb attack also failed at Ban Surao in Pattani’s Panare district....

"The Thai government cannot and must not remain indifferent to this conflict, which is also fueled by Islamic terrorist organizations abroad, from Pakistan and Bangladesh." Yet the Thai government is unlikely to do anything effective; maybe they're thinking that more origami would help.

"ASIA/THAILAND-Buddhists massacred by Islamic rebels in the South: the first challenge for new government," from Fides Service, July 14 (thanks to Twostellas):

Bangkok (Fides Service) - While the country is looking for a "common ground" on which to rebuild the fabric of a split society, and seeks paths for "national reconciliation" after the general elections won by the young leader Yingluck Shinawatra, the Muslim onset in the south of the country strongly returns. Violence and bloodshed are carried out against defenseless families: the victims are mostly Buddhists in the extreme south of Thailand, in the three provinces where most of the people are Muslims (Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat) on the border with Malaysia, and this is where the victims, a small minority live and are targeted by rebel groups who use terrorist methods.

As sources of Fides in southern Thailand inform- asking for anonymity for security reasons - recently a Buddhist family was massacred and two boys beheaded and left to bleed to death. "They are all innocent victims, guilty only for not being Muslims", notes the source of Fides, referring to the text of a pamphlet distributed by the terrorist groups operating in the area: "We will kill, burn, and destroy all Buddhists: you will never be able to live in peace here". "The Pattani Islamic guerrillas announce that they will never stop the slaughter of infidels of Siam until the land of Pattani does not become an Islamic state", the text says.

Fides source says that a significant role in spreading such subversive ideas is due to the "madrasas" schools that Islamic jihadist groups set up to indoctrinate the minds of children and young people and that, unknown to the journalist, "should be controlled and closed by state authorities".

"The Thai government cannot and must not remain indifferent to this conflict, which is also fueled by Islamic terrorist organizations abroad, from Pakistan and Bangladesh, and in front of an unprecedented violence against innocent people. The conflict, among the deadliest and most horrific of Southeast Asia - the source of Fides remarks - must become a priority on the agenda of the new government"....

Cross-pollination of jihadist tactics: the Iraq- and Afghanistan-style tactic of roadside bombs turns up in Thailand, along with spacing attacks to murder emergency personnel who respond, which is most often associated with al-Qaeda. "2 killed by roadside bomb in southern Thailand," from the Associated Press, June 24 (thanks to all who sent this in):

PATTANI, Thailand (AP) — Three hidden roadside bombs have killed two people and wounded 13 others in southern Thailand, and police believe Islamist militants are responsible.

Police Col. Nitinai Langyanay said the first bomb in Narathiwat province killed two irrigation workers Friday and wounded five others, while a second one about 1 kilometer (one-half mile) away wounded a soldier.

Bomb removal officers then tried to defuse a third bomb only three meters (yards) away from the second one but it exploded, wounding seven policemen. It is a standard practice of the insurgents to plant a second bomb to go off when security officials arrive to investigate an explosion.

More than 4,300 people have been killed in Thailand's three southern provinces since an Islamist insurgency flared in 2004.

Random acts of jihad continue as they have for years in "restive" southern Thailand, frequently targeting law enforcement and those seen as collaborators with the non-Islamic government. And after all, nothing says "religion of peace and tolerance" like a bomb planted on a soccer field. "Eight Killed at Football Game in Thailand by Muslim Militants," from Chakra News, June 8 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

(CHAKRA) In Thailand’s restive south, eight Buddhists have been killed by Muslim militants, according to police reports.

"Restive" has truly become a reliable code word for "jihad-afflicted" in the global press.

Police Lieutenant General, Kong-att Suwannakham says insurgents detonated a homemade bomb in a football field in the province of Pattani which resulted in four policemen being killed and another dozen being wounded. They had all just met at the field to play a friendly game of football knowing little that their lives were at stake in a few minutes time.

In the province of Yala, police say that insurgents set off a roadside bomb and shot at an army patrol, killing three soldiers and wounding two. Additionally two men on bicycles, fatally shot at a formal local official in his pick up truck, in the province of Narathiwat.

In Thailand’s three Muslim-dominated provinces, more than 4,300 people have been killed in the predominantly Buddhist regions. These killings have all happened since the Islamist insurgency erupted in the country in 2004.

Clearly Buddhist monks constitute a serious threat to the umma.

"Bomb kills 2 Buddhist monks in Thai south," from Reuters, May 16 (thanks to Twostellas):

YALA (Thailand) - A POWERFUL roadside bomb killed two Buddhist monks and wounded two soldiers in Thailand's Muslim deep south on Monday, police said, the latest attack in a region hit by seven years of separatist violence.

The bomb was hidden in a ditch in Yala province bordering Malaysia and was triggered as a pickup truck carrying the monks from a temple drove past.

The blast sent the vehicle rolling 10m and also wounded two soldiers assigned to protect the monks from attacks by Muslim militants. Police said the bomb was made from explosives packed into a cooking gas cylinder and weighed about 20kg....

Takfir is the declaration that a fellow Muslim, by acting against Islam in some way, has become an unbeliever. Here it is in action. "Insurgents kill 3 Muslims in south of Thailand," from Reuters, March 23 (thanks to Twostellas):

YALA, Thailand - Suspected insurgents shot dead three villagers, including a paramilitary guard, in Thailand's restive Muslim south, police said on Wednesday, the latest violence in the region bordering Malaysia.

At least 10 gunmen, believed to be separatist rebels, stormed a house in Narathiwat province on Tuesday night and opened fire on a Muslim couple and their neighbor as they watched television, Police Lieutenant Pairat Kiatjaroensiri said.

Among the victims was a 33-year-old defense volunteer, one of hundreds trained by the government to provide security in villages across Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani provinces, where ethnic Malay separatists are waging a bloody rebellion against the Thai state.

The paramilitary guards are often viewed as government spies and are prime targets for assassination by insurgents.

Must have been a militant Buddhist monk who provoked the Religion of Peacers by oppressing them, or perhaps by insulting Muhammad.

"Suspected Thai insurgents kill Buddhist monk," from The Associated Press, March 5:

PATTANI, Thailand -- Police say suspected Muslim militants have fatally shot a Buddhist monk in a drive-by motorcycle attack in insurgency-plagued southern Thailand.

Police Maj. Gen. Rapeepong Sukpaiboon says two militants carried out the attack Saturday in the Kok Pho district of Pattani province. Two other people were wounded, including another monk.

In a separate attack in nearby Kapo district, police Maj. Gen. Klanarong Phueakkumgrit says insurgents detonated a roadside bomb as a military truck passed by, wounding three soldiers....

"War is deceit," Muhammad said, and "the gunmen passed themselves as Muslim worshipers who came to pray at the mosque." No word on any expression of outrage from their co-religionists at this "misunderstanding" of Islam, or if outrage will be reserved, as ever, for cartoons, Pakistani women accused of blasphemy, orphanages, health care centers, and priests.

"Police killed in front of Narathiwat mosque," from The Nation, February 11:

Narathiwat - A police sergeant was shot and killed by Muslim insurgents in front of a mosque in this southern border province Friday afternoon.

Pol Sgt Kittisak Singdam was shot and killed by insurgents in front of Dharul Iman Mosque in Bumae Village in Tambon Yingor in Yingor district at 12:50 pm.

Kittisak was standing outside a police care while he was waiting for his boss. The gunmen passed themselves as Muslim worshipers who came to pray at the mosque.

He was shot at his head and body in front of some 100 Muslim worshipers.

The intrepid mujahedin, keeping the world safe from Buddhists riding along in a pickup truck. "Rebels kill three, burn bodies in Thai south," from Reuters, February 10 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

PATTANI - Suspected Muslim separatists shot dead three Buddhists and burned their bodies in Thailand's restive south, police said on Thursday, the latest violence in the rubber-rich southern tip of the country.

The killings follow several high-profile attacks in the past three weeks, including a raid on an army camp, a massive roadside bombing, the execution-style shooting of a Buddhist family and a series of drive-by attacks.

The latest escalation of violence began soon after the government hailed the success of security operations and public relations campaigns in reducing the number of attacks.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has said the government was considering lifting the emergency decree gradually in the region despite opposition from the army.

In the latest incident, suspected insurgents shot the three Buddhists, among them two women, as the rode in a pick-up truck in Pattani, one of three provinces bordering Malaysia where more than 4,300 people, both Muslims and minority Buddhists, have been killed in violence since 2004.

Police later found their charred bodies on the roadside next to their burnt vehicle

More Islamophobia in Thailand: "Suspected Muslim rebels kill five in Thai south," from Euronews, February 3 (thanks to Twostellas):

[...] Five people, identified as Buddhists, have been killed in a drive-by shooting as they were sitting at an open-air tea shop. Suspected Muslim separatists seeking autonomy from predominantly Buddhist Thailand are being blamed for the attack.

Violence has escalated in the region recently. Earlier this week, suspected Muslim insurgents shot dead a Buddhist family of four. The latest unrest comes after the government hailed the success of security operations in reducing the number of attacks.

The surge worked, eh?

Jihad against Buddhist wild pig hunters. "Bomb kills 9 civilians in restive Thai south," from Reuters, January 25 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

YALA, Thailand (Reuters) - A powerful roadside bomb killed nine civilians and wounded two others in Thailand's restive deep south on Tuesday, an attack blamed on separatist insurgents, police said.

The victims were all Buddhists and were travelling in a pickup truck to hunt wild pigs when the bomb exploded in Yala, one of three predominantly Muslim provinces plagued by violence since a separatist rebellion resurfaced seven years ago....

The violence, which has been limited to the border region, is believed to be the work of ethnic Malay militants and has claimed more than 4,300 lives since January 2004.

"Ethnic Malay militants" = Islamic jihadists.

Attacks are typically drive-by shootings, ambushes and roadside blasts although car bombings and beheadings have taken place in recent years....

"We are surprised that they launched their attack at our permanent camp instead of small temporary posts."

It is a departure from their usual attacks on teachers, rubber tappers, and telephone repairmen. Also, ex-politicians, village chiefs, married couples, and construction workers. "Insurgent attack kills 4 Thai soldiers," by Kocha Olarn for CNN, January 20:

Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- An insurgent attack on a Thai military camp in the country's south killed four soldiers and wounded six others, a military spokesman said Thursday.

"There were about 20 to 30 insurgents (who) attacked our permanent infantry camp in Maruebotok Village, Narathiwart province ... around 7:30 a.m. local time," said Col. Parinya Chaidilok, spokesman of the 4th Division of Internal Security Operation Command.

Parinya said the military had received a tip-off information that there would an attack on Thai military posts.

"But we are surprised that they launched their attack at our permanent camp instead of small temporary posts," he said.

Muslim separatists in southern Thailand have long battled government forces in a country that is overwhelmingly Buddhist. The conflict came to a head after former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra took office in 2004.

Several thousand people died in the violence.

That has a funny way of happening wherever someone feels the need to impose the Religion of Peace.

And that, of course, is what you have always wanted. But how long will it before you start to demand it in the rest of Thailand as well? "Thaworn sees sharia law as way forward," from the Bangkok Post, December 25 (thanks to Weavo):

The introduction of sharia law to the southernmost provinces has taken another step forward, with Deputy Interior Minister Thaworn Senneam saying it could help quell the insurgent violence.

He is also pledging to speed up work on a bill introducing a sharia court, which he hopes will help improve the security climate in the troubled region.

The move is part of the government's strategy of "widening the sphere" for Muslim people in the lower South.

A proposed sharia court will look into civil disputes, mostly related to family relationships and inheritance, when both plaintiffs and defendants are Muslims, and base its ruling on Islamic law, or sharia law, he said.

Mr Thaworn said the Justice Ministry has been reviewing a bill on the establishment of a sharia court and he hoped to speed up the process.

The ministry said it would change several regulations to match the way of life in the Muslim-dominated provinces.

The government is looking into making Fridays and Saturdays days off for Muslims so they can attend religious events.

Schools in the lower South under the Education Ministry will also be encouraged to teach Yawi, the local Malay language, Mr Thaworn said.

The strategy is intended to uphold the rights and liberties of Muslims in the area, as well as encourage residents to be more tolerant towards differences and cultural and religious diversity....

Meanwhile, two gunmen have raided a house in Narathiwat's Rangae district and shot and seriously wounded all three members of a family, police said.

Paosee Suamae, 37, his wife, Nureehan, 27, and their five-year-old daughter, Neezme, were having dinner when the assailants broke into their house on Thursday and shot them, police said.

More on this story. "Spain Deepens Probe Into European Jihadist Passport Network," by David Roman for Dow Jones Newswires, December 3:

MADRID (Dow Jones) Spanish and Thai police have discovered a trove of documents including Chinese and European visas, as well as airport rubber stamps, amid a deepening probe into a Thailand-based Jihadist group, Spain's interior ministry said Friday.

Investigations shed new light on ties between terror groups and petty crime, with evidence showing that an Islamist cell in Thailand supplied doctored passports and other documents to organizations like al Qaida, Pakistan's Lashkar e Taiba and Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers, but also to groups involved in human trafficking and illegal arms trading.

The passports were stolen in several locations across Europe, the Spanish ministry said. In particular, one cell comprising six Pakistanis and one Nigerian--all detained earlier this week --stole passports from tourists in the Barcelona area, which it later sent to Thailand.

According to a report in Spanish newspaper El Pais, the Barcelona cell relied on pickpockets, who were paid for stolen passports. These passports, from specific nationalities and age brackets, were selected following criteria set by the group's alleged head in Thailand, a Pakistani citizen identified by Spanish police as Muhammad Athar Butt.

One of those passports was carried by one of the Lashkar e Taiba terrorists who carried out the 2008 Mumbai attacks, killing 175, El Pais said. That discovery triggered the current probe, the newspaper added.

Athar Butt and two accomplices were in posession of doctored passports from Canada and Italy when they were detained in Bangkok earlier this week, Spain's Interior ministry said, as well as sophisticated equipment used for forgeries. Thai police has also discovered large amounts of documents and files belonging to the group, that are current being studied.

Just in case you were wondering if southern Thailand is still "restive," it sure is. Also, as usual, "War is deceit." "Five people shot dead in Thailand," from Agence France-Presse, December 4 (thanks to Dumbledoresarmy):

Suspected Islamic militants shot dead five people in attacks across Thailand's restive south, including one Muslim man gunned down by a gang apparently dressed as soldiers.

The 36-year-old deputy village headman was killed after three gunmen dressed in clothing resembling military uniforms broke into his house in Narathiwat on Friday evening, according to police.

In the same province a 43-year-old Buddhist man, who worked with the local irrigation office, was also shot and killed at his home.

A 55-year-old Muslim government worker also died on his way back from afternoon prayers in a drive-by shooting in Pattani province.

Another shooting in Pattani killed a 32-year-old security volunteer who was driving a motorcycle. His wife, who was a passenger on the vehicle, was seriously injured.

In Yala province, a 41-year-old Muslim man was shot dead while returning from working at a rubber plantation on Friday afternoon.

A separate gun attack at a village tea shop in the province, left a 38-year-old Muslim man seriously injured.

Suspected Islamic insurgents have waged a violent separatist battle in the region since early 2004, targeting Muslims and Buddhists, civilians and security personnel.

Non-governmental organisation Deep South Watch, which provides information on the conflict, said over 4,400 people have died in more than 10,000 attacks since the violence broke out in January 2004. Over 7,000 have been injured.

Activists say that while the militants are fighting against the rule of mainly Buddhist Thailand's central government, many Muslims who are considered "traitors" to Islam, for co-operating with Thai authorities, have been killed.

And jihadists murder with a sense of impunity there because the penalty for apostasy from Islam is death: Muhammad said so.

The Islamic jihadists "began firing on people without distinguishing between Muslims and Buddhists." They are trying to "strike terror in the hearts of the enemies of Allah" (Qur'an 8:60), and if some Muslims get killed in the process, that is collateral damage and does not mitigate the fact that the killers were waging Islamic jihad.

So imagine if nine or ten years from now Muslims want to build a giant mega-mosque at the site of this massacre, and insist that they want to do so in the interests of peace, reconciliation, and bridge-building with unbelievers. And they invoke the fact that the jihadists in this instance "began firing on people without distinguishing between Muslims and Buddhists" as if it somehow established that the killers were not legitimate Islamic jihadists. That fact doesn't render this not a jihad shooting, as it took place within the context of the Muslims' jihad to establish a separate Sharia state in their area of Thailand. But it would parallel the Islamic supremacists' oft-repeated line these days, that Muslims were killed in the World Trade Center jihad attacks, and therefore Muslims can legitimately erect a huge mosque at Ground Zero.

"Thailand, Islamic rebels disguised as policemen fire on crowd: 5 dead and 3 injured," from AsiaNews, September 29 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

Bangkok (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A group of Islamic rebels triggered a shootout last night in a village in Pattani province, killing five people including two children.

According to initial police reports, the militants presented themselves in the village market dressed as police officers and began firing on people without distinguishing between Muslims and Buddhists....

After all, someone's got to keep up the jihad against teachers, rubber tappers, telephone workers, and fathers and daughters, just to name a few.

If they were into bumper stickers, the might run off a few thousand urging: "Keep Thailand Restive."

"Envoy: Thai workers in Malaysia funding insurgents," from the Bangkok Post, September 10 (thanks to Twostellas):

A Thai diplomat in a northern Malaysian state has said his countrymen working in Malaysia are funding insurgents in Thailand's restive southern provinces, according to a report Friday.

Thai consul general Surapon Petch-Vra, who is based in Kelantan state, told the New Straits Times newspaper Thai workers have been sending back money to groups involved in the violence in the country's south which flared up six years ago.

The southern region was once an autonomous Malay sultanate until Buddhist Thailand annexed it a century ago, provoking decades of tension that flared up into the present insurgency.

Just an "autonomous Malay sultanate," minding its own business? More on the rest of the story can be found here. In a nutshell, it's another case where the jihadists lost, and they want a do-over.

"Admittedly, a few of our citizens who are earning an income in Malaysia are sending their money to certain perpetrators of violence," he was quoted as telling the paper.

"However, it has to be emphasised that the majority of our citizens working in Malaysia are only using their income to support themselves and their families," he added.

Surapon said about 200,000 Thais from the south's Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani, Songkhla and Satun provinces were working in Malaysia, in various sectors including the construction industry, the paper reported. The consul-general could not be reached for comment.

Surapon's comments follow the killing of five people in southern Thailand on Tuesday in a string of attacks by suspected militants as the military raided an insurgent training camp.

Guns, knives, Malaysian currency, medical supplies and two-way radios were among the items discovered in the eight temporary shelters surrounding the camp's communal meeting room....

The intrepid mujahedin, gunning down teachers and forcing school closures in the entire province. Later on, they, along with analysts in the West, will complain about the region being poor and underdeveloped, and say it causes jihad. But this is a classic example of jihad causing poverty, and obliterating the means of improving one's lot in life.

"Call for Thai school closures after teachers killed," by Rapee Mama for Agence France-Presse, September 7 (thanks to Dumbledoresarmy):

NARATHIWAT, Thailand -- Two teachers were among five people killed in a string of attacks by suspected militants in Thailand's restive south, sparking calls for schools to be closed, officials said Tuesday.

The spike in violence came as the military raided a forest camp they said had been used for militant training -- the biggest such find since the insurgency flared up in the region more than six years ago.

A 54-year-old teacher was shot dead and his wife, 52, fatally wounded on their way to work in Narathiwat province on Tuesday. Their deaths bring to 135 the number of teachers killed in the violence-ridden south since 2004.

The Narathiwat Association of Teachers called for all schools in the province to close for three days to allow the authorities to tighten security.

"We don't want any more teachers to die because they do not have protection," said association head Boonsom Thongsriplai.

Some of Narathiwat's 400 or so state-run schools are believed to have closed already and more are expected to shut from Wednesday.

Teachers working in state schools are frequently targeted because they are seen as a symbol of government authority in the south, where Islamic insurgents view the education system as an effort by Bangkok to impose Buddhist culture....

"Unrest ... caused by Muslim rebels seeking secession from predominantly Buddhist Thailand."

And what would happen if the proverbial Coyote ever caught the Roadrunner? Would there be peace, and would life then go on? It's much more likely the "rebels" seeking their own country to run would proceed to turn violently on one another over the implementation of Islamic law and the consequent legitimacy of any government.

This conflict is underway in Afghanistan, it is in somewhat early stages Bosnia as Saudi-inspired jihadists gain strength and support, and it has been raging in Somalia for years. Funny how that keeps happening. "Two killed, five wounded in Thai south unrest," from Reuters, August 23 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

YALA, Thailand - Suspected Muslim insurgents shot dead two people and wounded five others in three separate attacks in the space of one day in Thailand's restive south, police said on Monday.

The incidents all took place between Sunday night and Monday morning in Pattani, one of three provinces plagued by six years of bloody unrest, believed to be caused by Muslim rebels seeking secession from predominantly Buddhist Thailand.

A Muslim man, formerly a local politician, was shot dead and a village chief wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire as they drove a pickup truck to morning prayers on Monday, police said.

In another attack on Monday, a Buddhist couple were shot and wounded on their way to work at a construction site.

The previous night, a Muslim village official was shot dead in front of a school by mystery assailants, police Lietenant Mana Naktang said. Two bystanders were also wounded.

More than 4,000 people have been killed since a decades-old rebellion resurfaced in 2004 in the mainly Muslim provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, which border Malaysia.

No group has claimed responsibility for the violence, for which there has so far been no known evidence of links to foreign militant networks.

Except ideology.

The attacks have ranged from drive-by shootings and sabotage to bombings and beheadings. Targets are usually Buddhists and Muslims associated with the Thai state, such as police, soldiers, government officials and teachers.

And policemen. "Three shot dead in Thai restive south," from Reuters, August 14 (thanks to all who sent this in):

YALA Thailand (Reuters) - Three people, among them a policeman, were killed in Thailand's troubled southern region Saturday in attacks blamed on Muslim separatists, police said.

A man and his wife were shot dead while riding a motorcycle to work in a rubber plantation in Yala, one of the three predominantly ethnic Malay Muslim provinces with a deep history of rebellion to the rule of faraway Bangkok.

In a separate attack in neighbouring Pattani province, a policeman was fatally shot by unknown gunmen while travelling to work. He later died in hospital, police told reporters.

More than 4,000 people have been killed in the last six years in the rubber-rich region bordering Malaysia, which was a Muslim sultanate until annexed in 1909 by Buddhist Thailand, which many locals say has long treated them like second-class citizens....

The pretexts shift, the jihad is constant.

Restive: An update on this story. "Police: 8 killed in Thailand's restive south," from AP, July 2 (thanks to Maxwell):

PATTANI, Thailand - Suspected Muslim insurgents detonated roadside bombs that killed eight people, including one civilian, in two separate attacks in Thailand's restive south, police said Friday.

A bomb explosion in Yala province on Friday killed three soldiers in a pickup truck who were sent to fix a water pipe in a village in Yaha district, said police Col. Sawas Tiawirat.

On Thursday evening, suspected insurgents detonated a bomb and then shot at security forces on a patrol in Narathiwat province, killing a soldier, two security rangers, a village security guard and a village official, said police Capt. Pairat Kiatcharoensiri....

More than 4,000 people have been killed in Thailand's three southernmost provinces since an Islamist insurgency erupted in 2004....

A noteworthy change in tactics, reflecting the broader trend in jihadist warfare elsewhere in Asia and the Middle East. "Thailand: 'Muslim' rebels kill five soldiers," from AdnKronos International, July 2 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Narathiwat, 2 July (AKI) - Security officials in Thailand said they suspect Muslim insurgents were responsible for a roadside bomb attack in the country's south that killed five soldiers late Thursday.

The attack occurred in the Ruso district of Narathiwat provinces. Narathiwat is one of four southern provinces hit by a separatist insurgency that has claimed the lives of more than 4,100 people.

The bomb, containing was buried in a dirt road and detonated by wire, said Lieutenant Pairat Kiatjaroensiri, in a news report.

"The group was on night patrol in a pick-up truck when they were ambushed," said Kiatjaroensiri.

Three of the five soldiers killed were Muslim and two Buddhist....

Actually the perpetrators were most likely Islamic jihadists. Will the Islamophobia never end? "23 hurt by bomb near mosque in southern Thailand," from AP, June 9 (thanks to Maxwell):

PATTANI, Thailand - A drive-by bombing near a mosque wounded 23 people in Thailand's turbulent south in what police said Wednesday was an attack by Muslim insurgents.

Witnesses saw two men on a motorcycle throw an improvised explosive device at a government pickup truck in Yala town Tuesday evening, but the bomb missed the vehicle and landed just across the street from the mosque, Police Superintendent Col. Piyawat Chalermsri said.

Most of those hurt were Muslims. Two victims were in intensive care, including a 14-year-old girl in critical condition.

Thailand's southernmost provinces, the only ones with Muslim majorities in the predominantly Buddhist country, have been gripped for the past six years by a separatist insurgency that has claimed more than 4,000 lives.

Southern Muslims have long complained of being treated as second-class citizens, and the government has put more effort into suppressing the insurgency than dealing with the root causes of their disaffection.

In other words, they should play the dhimmi rather than meet violent intimidation with resistance.

Piyawat said he believed Islamist insurgents targeting the government were behind Tuesday's bombing. Surveillance video broadcast on Thai TV stations showed an explosion seconds after an army truck drove by a teahouse.

However, one analyst was skeptical about the government claim because no previous attacks had been carried out in that area of Yala, which is a wholly Muslim sector filled with people going to the mosque....

Apparently these jihadists didn't get Sheikh al-Qaradawi's memo about killing civilians -- or maybe they just heard him the first time.

"3 killed, 9 injured when Muslim insurgents fire at teashop in Narathiwat," from The Nation, April 2 (thanks to Twostellas):

Narathiwat - Three civilians were killed and nine other injured when two Muslim insurgents opened fire at a teashop in this southern border province Thursday night.

The attack in Bacho district happened at 10:30 pm.

Police said two assailants arrived at the scene on a pick-up truck and jumped down from the truck and opened fire at the shop using M16 and AK-47 assault rifles. They fled the scene on the truck....

And this Reuters article, true to form, says that the Muslims are fighting to gain autonomy in what was up until a hundred years ago a Malay sultanate -- but it does not mention, of course, that the Malay Sultanate was making war against the Siamese during the war between Siam and Burma, and Thailand conquered it in that context. That makes it Thai land by a right of conquest that has been universally recognized throughout human history -- except, of course, when it comes to Israel and to any Muslim land that is conquered by non-Muslims.

Note also the tortured language in the last paragraph: "The violence has ranged from drive-by shootings to bombings and beheadings. It often targets Buddhists and Muslims associated with the Thai state." As if "the violence" were something that is conscious and acts of its own volition. Look out, Mabel, here comes The Violence again, and it's targeting us this time!

The mainstream media will do anything to avoid saying that Islamic jihadists, the most prolific and energetic mass murders of our time, are responsible for any of the evil they perpetrate.

And finally, the fifteen scholars of the Mardin conference need to make their way to southern Thailand and clue in the Thai jihadists that "the entire world" is now "a place of tolerance and peaceful co-existence between all religious, groups and factions." Or is their declaration designed to reassure jittery Infidels, and isn't intended to dissuade jihadists from their jihads at all?

"Six killed in Thailand's insurgency-plagued south," from Reuters, April 1 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

NARATHIWAT, Thailand (Reuters) - Suspected Islamic insurgents shot dead six Buddhist villagers in Thailand's restive south Thursday, police said, the latest attack in the troubled region bordering Malaysia.

The villagers in Narathiwat province were believed to have been ambushed, said police Colonel Sanit Suwanno...

Ten policemen and soldiers were also wounded when a roadside bomb exploded as they were traveling to the scene of the shootings, police said.

More than 3,900 people have been killed in six years of unrest as ethnic Malay Muslims fight for autonomy from Thailand's Buddhist majority in the region just a few hours by car from some of Thailand's best-known tourist beaches.

Local Muslims largely oppose the presence of tens of thousands of police, soldiers and state-armed Buddhist guards in rubber-rich region, which was part of a Malay Muslim sultanate until annexed by Thailand a century ago.

About 80 percent of Thailand's three southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat are Muslim.

The violence has ranged from drive-by shootings to bombings and beheadings. It often targets Buddhists and Muslims associated with the Thai state, such as police, soldiers, government officials and teachers.

And 61-year-old salesmen. Such intrepid mujahedin! "Suspected Muslim separatists kill four in Thailand's deep South," from Deutsche Presse Agentur, March 11 (thanks to Twostellas):

Pattani, Thailand - Suspected Muslim separatists on Thursday shot dead three Thai telephone repairmen and a 61-year-old salesman in two incidents in the violence-racked southern province of Pattani, officials said. Assailants on a motorcycle attacked a pickup belonging to the TT&T telephone company, forcing it off the road into an ambush in the Yarang district, Colonel Banpot Punpian said.

"The assailants sprayed the pickup with bullets and then set fire to it, killing three men," he said. One of the TT&T employees managed to escape, he said.

Meanwhile, also in Yarang, unknown assailants shot dead Buddhist Vun Ounjai, 61, a broom salesman.

They were the latest casualties in a six-year conflict in Thailand's so-called Deep South, comprising Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces.

An estimated 4,000 people have died in clashes, bombings, revenge killings and beheadings in the troubled region, which borders Malaysia.

The insurgents, an amorphous group of Muslim militants fighting for greater autonomy or independence from the predominantly Buddhist state, have adopted eye-for-an-eye tactics to avenge any show of force by the authorities.

Of the 300,000 Thai Buddhists who lived in the region, about 70,000 have left since separatists raided an army depot in January 2004, killing four soldiers and making off with 300 weapons, triggering an escalation of the conflict.

The incident sparked a series of brutal government crackdowns, which turned many of the area's 2 million people, 80 per cent of whom are Muslim, against the central government.

Although the region, which centuries ago was the independent Islamic sultanate of Pattani, was conquered by Bangkok about 200 years ago, it has never wholly submitted to Thai rule.

Analysts said the region's Muslim population, the majority of whom speak a Malay dialect and follow Malay customs, feels alienated from the predominantly Buddhist Thai state.

Why not just start an emo rock band?

The intrepid mujahedin, targeting a father and his daughter riding a motorbike home. "Father and daughter shot dead, bomb wounds 5 in Thai south," from ChannelNewsAsia, March 3 (thanks to Twostellas):

NARATHIWAT, Thailand: Suspected Islamic militants shot dead a father and his young daughter in Thailand's troubled south, while a roadside bomb wounded five soldiers, police said Wednesday.

The casualties were the latest in a six-year separatist insurgency in the Muslim-majority southern provinces bordering Malaysia that has left more than 4,000 people dead and thousands more wounded.

Gunmen opened fire on the Muslim man and his three daughters as they rode a motorbike home from a religious school in Pattani province Tuesday, killing the 44-year-old man and his seven-year-old daughter, police said.

Early Wednesday a 15 kilogramme bomb hidden in a gas canister in neighbouring Narathiwat province wounded five rangers as they drove in a pick-up truck to meet community leaders, they added.

The shadowy militant groups in Thailand's south never publicly state their goals but have targeted Buddhists and Muslims, civilians and security forces alike in their campaign against central government control....

No one has claimed responsibility, but there is only one group in Thailand that opens fire on Thai soldiers. Thai Jihad Update. "Bomb near mosque kills soldier in Thai south," from Reuters, January 29 (thanks to Twostellas):

PATTANI, Thailand (Reuters) - A bomb killed a soldier in the compound of a mosque in southern Thailand on Friday and two other soldiers were wounded in a gun battle that subsequently broke out with suspected insurgents, police said.

A small homemade explosive was detonated in the mosque compound in Pattani province as the three soldiers stood guard while colleagues went inside the mosque to pray, Police Major General Pichet Pitisethapan told Reuters.

A group of assailants then opened fire, leading to a five-minute gun battle that wounded the two soldiers, he said....

For a jihadist, nothing says "Happy New Year" like a few drive-by shootings! "Six killed in new attacks in Thai south: police," from AFP, December 31 (thanks to Maxwell):

PATTANI, Thailand -- Suspected Islamist militants killed two soldiers and four civilians in drive-by shootings in the latest violence to rock Thailand's insurgency-hit south, police said Thursday.

More than 4,000 people have been killed and thousands more wounded since a separatist rebellion erupted nearly six years ago in Thailand's troubled provinces bordering Malaysia.

Two members of the rangers security force and a Buddhist civilian were killed Thursday in a drive-by shooting in Narathiwat province by suspected insurgents who also took the troops' assault rifles, police said.

Gunmen on motorbikes shot dead a 42-year-old villager as he drove home in neighbouring Pattani province, also on Thursday, said police.

On Wednesday, motorbike-riding attackers killed a 49-year-old assistant to a village chief in Pattani at a local tea shop, police said.

An hour later a district chief aged 45 was shot dead by gunmen in a pick-up truck while he was driving home from a meeting in Pattani. The shooting also injured two villagers....