Two insurgents linked to Thai school shooting shot dead by police

BANGKOK: Two insurgents believed to be tied to a motorcycle drive-by shooting at a school in Thailand’s south were shot dead, police said, as Unicef warned of trauma for children near the scene of the lunchtime violence.

Since 2004 clashes between Malay-Muslim rebels and the Buddhist-majority Thai state that annexed the area over 100 years ago have killed nearly 7,000 people, mostly civilians of both faiths.

The conflict rarely makes global headlines but is a reality for residents of border provinces where security forces maintain a large footprint, aided by poorly paid defence “volunteers” drawn from local communities.

The four men killed in Thursday’s shooting were all Muslims and were guarding a school in Pattani province when the attackers struck just before lunchtime with students mere metres away.

Pattani provincial police commander Piyawat Chalermsri told AFP yesterday that two people with alleged ties to the school violence were killed in a shootout yesterday morning.

Though he did not give information about their identities or affiliation, he said he was “confident that they are the same group who carried out the attack on Thursday” by driving by on motorbikes.

Authorities have also detained one suspect and are questioning five others, while a military source said an eight-year-old had been grazed by a bullet but not seriously injured.

Unicef Thailand representative Thomas Davin said on Friday that one child at the Bukoh school attack was reportedly injured by debris and some who may have witnessed the attack could face long term psychological trauma.

“This attack has undoubtedly put the school children, the teachers and school personnel in harm’s wa,” he said.

“Such violence could also affect parents’ willingness to send their children to school.”

The 15-year insurgency has seen scores of teachers killed for their perceived collaboration with the Thai state, which led to the use of armed guards at schools.