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Southeast Asia
Two villagers killed, two soldiers injured in southern Thailand
2010-06-17
Two villagers were shot dead and two soldiers were injured by a bomb in the insurgent-plagued southern province of Pattani on Thursday morning, reports said. Attackers armed with AK-47 and M-16 rifles opened fire at Gorya Hayee, 27, as he was on his way home in Pattani's Saiburi district. He was shot four times in the back and died on the spot.

In a separate incident, two gunmen on motorcycle shot 48-year-old Januwae Buesa while he was drinking tea at a stall in Mayor district. He was hit by four bullets from a handgun and died on the way to hospital. Later in the morning, two soldiers were wounded by a bomb explosion as they were escorting teachers in Thung Yang Daeng district.

Also:

A leading rights group called on Thai authorities Thursday to investigate the death in military custody of a 25-year-old suspected terrorist insurgent in the country's troubled southern region. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Sulaiman Naesa -- who was found hanged at the Ingkhayuth army camp on May 30 -- died in "suspicious circumstances" and family members had reported seeing "visible signs of torture" on his body.

Sulaiman was accused of involvement in 14 terrorist insurgent attacks on civilians and security forces, mostly in the Sai Buri district of Pattani province, army personnel told the rights group. He is thought to have been arrested on May 22 and held without charge under emergency powers, which are used to combat a bloody jihad insurgency that has raged in the Muslim-majority south for six years.

"Thai soldiers are fighting a difficult separatist insurgency in the south, but that is no excuse for the brutal treatment of suspects in custody," said Elaine Pearson of HRW. "Sulaiman's death raises concerns that soldiers are once again using torture and other illegal methods against detainees."

Pearson said efforts to prosecute troops for mistreatment of detainees would help calm tensions in the region, where insurgents are believed to use claims of army abuse to justify attacks on civilians.
Posted by:ryuge

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