BFF-36 Two army rangers shot dead in Thailand’s restive south

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THAILAND-UNREST-SOUTH-POLITICS

Two army rangers shot dead in Thailand’s restive south

BANGKOK, Sept 12, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Two army rangers were gunned down and
four more wounded in a night-time ambush by suspected militants in Thailand’s
Muslim-majority south, officials said Wednesday.

The region bordering Malaysia has been in the grip of a low-level but
bloody insurgency for more than a decade as ethnic Malay militants battle the
Buddhist-majority state for greater autonomy.

The rangers came under fire late Tuesday in Pattani, one of the provinces
worst-hit by a conflict that has killed nearly 7,000 people, while patrolling
Nongchik district on motorcycles.

“Two rangers were killed at the scene of the attack and four others were
wounded,” Captain Sarawut Nuchwang, deputy chief police investigator, told
AFP.

The number of attackers and their identities remain unknown. “We suspect it
was the work of the same local group who are active in this district,”
southern army spokesman Colonel Pramote Prom-in said, in an apparent
reference to a band of local militants.

“They want to create a situation to incite unrest.”

Thailand’s three southernmost provinces were colonised over a century ago.

But the majority Malay Muslim population have resisted Bangkok’s rule,
calling for greater autonomy or independence.

They accuse the state of railroading their distinct culture as well as
carrying out routine abuses which go unpunished.

The latest round of insurgency broke out in 2004, marked by near-daily
shootings or bomb attacks which have left civilians — both Muslim and
Buddhist — bearing the brunt of the violence.

The shadowy rebels shun publicity, operating in small cells in remote
forested border areas.

The main militant group the Barisan Revolusi Nasional are reluctant to
commit to peace talks in public.

Since Thailand’s ruling junta seized power in 2014, big attacks have become
less frequent due to a combination of heightened security, arrests and
intelligence work.

Last year a record low of 235 people were killed in clashes between
insurgents and the military.

But in recent weeks violence has spiked with a series of shootings and
small bombings, including targeted attacks on rubber farmers.

BSS/AFP/MSY/1200 hrs