Two Shot Dead, School Burnt Down In Southern Thailand

By Jamaluddin Muhammad BANGKOK, June 7 (Bernama) -- Two villagers were shot dead in Narathiwat and a primary school was burnt down in Pattani, southern Thailand, Wednesday. Sungai Padi police chief Col Pirapol Na Pattalung said seven villagers were attacked by six gunmen in front of a house located opposite a school in Sungai Padi, Narathiwat, at 8 pm. The attackers arrived on three motorcycles, and three of them were armed with AK-47 rifles, he said, adding that they killed the two villagers - a 45-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman and injured five other villagers. In a separate incident in Pattani, a government primary school in Kampung Bendang Pinang, Yarang, was set on fire by insurgents at about 8 pm. Yarang police chief Dir Juttanan said the one-storey wooden school was totally damaged. More than 5,000 people have died since suspected separatists resumed their armed campaign to seek independence for the three southern provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala eight years ago. -- BERNAMA