Ramadan attacks leave 14 dead, far fewer than previous years
Fourteen people died in 11 violent incidents in the southern border provinces during the final 10 days of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, according to a university monitoring group.
The Deep South Watch Centre at Prince of Songkla University Pattani said on Tuesday that 23 other people had been wounded in the same period, though the violence overall saw a sharp decrease from the same period over past four years.
The last 10 days of Ramadan usually witness a spike in violence due to a belief that attacks during this time gain the perpetrators special merit in the afterlife.
Pattani had four incidents from June 15 to 24, Narathiwat another four, and Yala three.
Seven of the 14 people killed and 14 of the 23 wounded were representatives of the state – security officers or volunteers, who militants in the ethnic Malay separatist movement consider “hard targets”.
In 2013, 47 people died and 117 were wounded in 107 incidents. In 2014, 34 were killed and 124 injured in 77 incidents.
In 2015, 39 died and 71 were wounded in 116 incidents. In 2016, 30 were killed and 61 hurt in 81 incidents.