Security forces kill 2 linked to shooting at Thai school
Bangkok, Thailand - Two insurgents believed to be tied to a motorcycle drive-by shooting at a school in Thailand’s south were shot dead on Saturday, 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 headlines but is a reality for residents of border provinces where security forces maintain a large footprint, aided by poorly paid defence ‘volunteers’. 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.