Three killed in Pattani despite govt's claim of improving situation
Three security volunteers were shot to death in a broad daylight attack in Pattani province Monday despite claims by government that the volatile situation in the deep south has improved.
The victims, father and son, Num, 57 and Surasak, 27 Saksongmuang, and Somsak Kunchum, 42, were on their way to a school in Ban Pasae village in Yaring district at about noon when two men on a motorcycle stopped them reportedly for a chat on Highway 2020.
Police said four insurgents in a pickup, two of them in the back, approached them. Upon seeing the pickup, the men on the motorcycle drove away. The men in the pickup, who were armed with assault rifles, then opened fire.
To make sure that the victims were dead, the insurgents dragged the bodies of father and son from the vehicle onto the road. Before escaping the scene, they also snatched the victims’ weapons; a AK-47 and a M-16 assault rifles, a 9mm and a 38mm handguns.
They also put spikes on the road to delay officials’ attempt to follow them.
Police found about 100 cartridges of bullets on the road.
The government has claimed that the situation is improving, particularly after dozens of alleged insurgents agreed to hold talks with the authorities.
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