15 April 2007
Thai Buddhist killed and burned in restive south
NARATHIWAT - An elderly Buddhist man was shot dead and his body set on fire Sunday in Thailand's restive south, police said, days after a similar incident provoked angry protests
The 70-year-old man was attacked by suspected Islamic militants as he drove his motorbike home from a market in Narathiwat, one of three Muslim-majority southern provinces beset by a separatist insurgency.
The attackers shot the man three times in the head and torso, before setting his body on fire. Passers-by were able to rescue the corpse before it was badly burned, a local police officer said.
A 26-year-old Buddhist woman was shot and burned beyond recognition in Yala province on Wednesday while Thailand's junta leader was in the region.
About 200 angry villagers paraded her remains through the streets of Yala town to demand that General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who is also the army chief, put an end to the unrelenting bloodshed here.
After Sonthi seized power in a coup in September, he installed a government that promptly unveiled a raft of peace measures for the region, only to see the violence worsen.
More than 2,000 people have been killed in the provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani since the latest separatist insurgency broke out in January 2004.
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