Boy, 8, and family shot dead in Thailand

An eight-year-old boy and three relatives were shot dead on their way to school in Thailand’s insurgency-torn south on yesterday, authorities said, casting a pall over recent peace talk gains.

Thailand’s southern tip has festered with violence for over a decade as MalayMuslim rebels wage a rebellion against the Buddhistmajority state.

At least 6,800 people — mostly civilians — have been killed in attacks that have seen both sides accused of rights abuses.

Early Thursday two gunmen opened fire on the pickup truck of a local official who was driving his son to school in Narathiwat province, police and a military spokesmen said.

The deputy village headman’s wife and sister-inlaw were also in the car with all four killed in the ambush. Two other people were also in the vehicle but survived the attack.

“It’s likely the work of militants trying to incite unrest,” Colonel Ruangsak Buadaeng, commander of Ruso district police station, told AFP.

Routine targets

Rebels routinely target local officials, public school teachers and other perceived collaborators with the Thai state.

The attack comes two days after the Thai army and rebel negotiators agreed to create a safety zone in the region.

The agreement was the first of its kind in talks between the two sides that have staggered on for years but failed to produce concrete results.

But analysts have been quick to caution that the measure carries little weight without the support of the BRN faction that provides most of the active rebel fighters on the ground.

BRN militants have routinely staged attacks timed to discredit meets between the army and Mara Patani, the group that claims to represent the insurgents.