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Jihadi rampage continues in Southern Thailand
Two more killed in latest shootingsWounded toddler succumbs to injuries A three-year-old girl who was shot by insurgent suspects in Bannang Sata district died on Friday night after succumbing to a serious head wound, a doctor said. Pattama Janlekpat, whose parents were killed in a drive-by shooting on Friday, was immediately admitted to Bannang Sata Hospital and was later taken to the better-equipped Yala Central Hospital for further treatment. But the doctor said the gunshot wound was too severe to be resisted by the little girl. Her body has been taken for funeral rites at a temple in Bannang Sata district. The ceremony was also held for her parents. Her father Akom, 32, and mother Aroonrat na Phatthalung, 20, who was pregnant, were gunned down by two men on a motorbike. The shootings occurred as the three were driving home after shopping in the district town. Yala deputy governor Karan Supavilekkarn gave financial help to the relatives of the three and said the government would provide counselling to them to relieve their grief. The incident took place on the same day Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont made a quick trip to the southern province of Songkhla to visit five Buddhist monks and two soldiers injured in a bomb attack in Narathiwat last Sunday. On Thursday, Gen Surayud will visit the three southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala for the first time since becoming prime minister. The insurgency in the three Muslim-dominated southernmost provinces continued yesterday with two villagers killed and one seriously injured, police said. In Narathiwat's Rueso district, rubber tree farmer Boonriang Ruangtong, 74, was shot dead by two men in a rubber plantation in Ban Balukahulu village. Police said the men called Boonriang, who was inside a make-shift shelter. When he came out, the men shot him in the eye and shoulder. Police believe his death was connected to the daily insurgent violence because the old man did not appear to have any conflict with others. A villager in Pattani's Khok Pho district was also shot dead by two insurgent suspects as he rode a motorbike to work at a rubber plantation yesterday, police said. In Yala's Muang district, a man who works in a clinic was shot by two men on a motorbike. He was taken to Yala Centre Hospital for treatment of wounds on the head and arm. Akapol Saijian, 25, was shot while riding his motorbike with his girlfriend to his workplace in Muang district yesterday. He was seriously injured but his girlfriend was not shot, police said. In Bangkok Gen Surayud welcomed a group of 90 Muslim teenagers from Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat who will stay with Muslim families in the capital and neighbouring provinces for 12 days under a state project to build relationships between Muslim groups in the two regions. The initiative, held for the fourth time, aims to introduce teenagers to the daily lives of Muslims in other regions. Officials hope their experiences will help mould them into good Muslim leaders in the future. Posted by: ryuge 2006-10-29 |
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