Eight killed in Thailand's insurgency-torn south
Thailand, Apr 28, 2009
 Insurgents in Thailand's south have stepped up attacks on the fifth anniversary of a deadly assault on a mosque, with eight new deaths in four separate attacks reported Tuesday (April 28). Most of the violence has been reported in Yala province, where about six gunmen stormed a house and opened fire on a family of five on Monday (April 27), according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). Two men, a woman and a 16-year-old girl were killed in the attack and another young girl was wounded, AFP reported. Insurgents in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat province have been fighting against Thai rule in the Muslim-majority, Malay-speaking region on and off since 1902, when the former independent sultanate was annexed by Buddhist-majority Thailand. Some 3,500 people have been killed in the latest round of the insurgency, which erupted in January 2004. The deadliest incident in the insurgency occurred on April 28, 2004, when security forces killed about 106 Muslim militants armed with guns and machetes who had launched coordinated morning raids on more than a dozen security posts, Reuters reported. Thirty-two of those were killed when police and troops staged a three-hour shoot-out at the historic Krue Se mosque in Pattani province. In the same area of Yala where the family was attacked Monday, police believe the same group of rebels killed two Muslim men who were found dead at a prayer house, AFP reported. In another part of Yala, suspected militants shot two men who were hunting animals in a forest early Tuesday. One man died and the other was wounded, according to AFP. In another incident Tuesday morning, a gunman in a vehicle shot and killed a Buddhist government official in Pattani province while he was riding his motorcycle, Reuters and the Associated Press reported. The insurgents have never identified themselves as a group or publicly stated their goals, but their attacks typically target people they associate with the Thai government, including teachers, officials and security personnel. After several weeks of near calm, attacks have increased over the last week. Around 40,000 security personnel are active in the south to curb the insurgency, but locals and militants have accused troops of raiding villages and making arrests without cause. Analysts say the government's failure to punish security personnel for these alleged abuses has alienated the local population, the BBC reported.
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