A 16-year-old novice Buddhist monk was killed and another 12-year-old was seriously injured this morning, when insurgents attacked a pickup truck with automatic gunfire on a rural road near a temple in Saba Yoi district of Songkhla province.
The two young monks were about to board a pickup truck, being driven by Pol Lt Wattana Chumapan, to take them and four other monks to Saba Yoi municipal area, to receive alms from the public.
A motorcycle the pillion passenger opened fire at them with an assault rifle, killing Pongkorn Chumapan and injuring Pokanit Morasilp. Police officers on the same truck returned fire with their service weapons, but the insurgents escaped.
The two injured novices were rushed to the district hospital. Pongkorn who was son of Pol Lt Wattana, was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Southern insurgents, fighting for self-rule in Thailand’s restive Deep South, have stepped up attacks against both military and civilian targets.
On Sunday, insurgents detonated an IED, hidden in a motorcycle sidecar rigged with an 80kg gas cylinder packed with explosives. It had been parked close to the concrete wall of police apartments in Khok Khian sub-district in Muang district of Narathiwat.
The explosion injured nine people, including seven children, aged between seven and 15.
The attack has sparked an outcry among Muslims in the province, including Saki Phithakkumpol, former senator and son of the former Chularatchamontri, the Muslim spiritual leader.
In his Facebook post, Saki asked insurgent groups, fighting for the Patani state in the Deep South, about the violence against the civilians, noting that it is damaging their cause. He also asked how the victims of the violence would seek justice for what they had done.
Most of the injured were on their way to attend a religious class when the IED detonated.
Hundreds of Khok Khian sub-district residents rallied at the Kok Kian police station on Monday, to offer moral support to the police superintendent, Pol Col Veerayuth Taseephan, who was transferred to an inactive post at the operations centre of the Provincial Police Office following the explosion.
The demonstrators said that the abrupt transfer of Veerayuth was unfair, claiming that he is a good man and is easily accessible by the people.
