Four Village Heads Shot Dead In Pattani

By Jamaluddin Muhammad BANGKOK, May 4 (Bernama) -- Gunmen, believed to be insurgents, shot dead four village heads at close range in Pattani on Thursday. The deceased, aged between 47 and 56, comprised two men and two women from Thungka, Saiburi in Pattani. They were returning from the Saiburi village heads monthly meeting at the Saiburi district office when the attack occurred at 1pm. Saiburi police chief Col Aziz Umayi said the four were travelling in a car when the gunmen in a pick-up attacked them at Kampung Banggul in Mulong, Pattani. He said the gunmen also took two pistols and US$9,367.21 (290,000 Baht cash) from the deceased. Aziz said initial police investigations revealed that insurgents were responsible for the attack. 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