BANGKOK, Feb 27, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Two Thai policemen were executed after
being abducted from a tea shop in the kingdom’s violent southern borderlands,
police said Wednesday, as bloodshed again spikes in a 15-year insurgency.
Clashes between ethnic Malay-Muslim rebels and the forces from the
Buddhist-majority Thai state which annexed the region a century ago have
killed nearly 7,000 people since 2004, mostly civilians.
The death toll dropped to a record low last year as Thailand’s junta
tightened its security web and militant attacks on civilians have become less
frequent.
But tit-for-tat violence has spiralled in recent weeks leaving imams and
Buddhist monks dead and hitting security forces protecting schools.
On Tuesday around eight suspected militants stormed a tea shop in
Narathiwat province, near Malaysia’s border, Lieutenant Sarayuth Khotchawong
told AFP.
“The kidnappers abducted the two policemen, took their guns and forced them
to get into a pick-up truck,” Sarayuth said.
The bodies were found later a few hundred metres away. One of the victims
was Buddhist while the other was Muslim, he said.
The wife of the Muslim policeman wept inconsolably as she arrived Wednesday
at the hospital where the bodies were taken.
The killings occurred several hours after a bomb exploded in neighbouring
Yala province, killing a Thai ranger on patrol.
Authorities said the attacks were likely retaliation after authorities
launched raids in nearby mountains to pursue those responsible for recent
assaults on soft targets.
In January black-clad assailants shot dead two monks. Militants also killed
four civil defence volunteers in a drive-by shooting outside a school.
Security forces injured a boy as they gunned down rebels in counter-
operations.
Claims of responsibility are rare in a conflict where the militants melt
into remote communities or cross the porous border into Malaysia.
Peace talks have gone nowhere with the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), who
command the majority of rebel foot soldiers refusing to join discussions with
the Thai side.
Thailand remains unwilling to cede ground in public on demands for greater
autonomy or allow international observers to mediate talks.
In a rare public statement on January 4 the BRN vowed to “keep fighting”.