More than 1,000 people marched in Thailand’s insurgency-torn south today to condemn the killing of a Buddhist family, including an eight-year-old boy, due to a sudden spike in violence that undercut what had been a progress in peace talks.
The under-reported rebellion waged by Malay Muslim insurgents against the Buddhist-majority Thai state has killed more than 6,800 people, mostly civilians, since it erupted 13 years ago.
That toll rose on Thursday after suspected militants ambushed the car of a deputy village headman, shooting him dead along with his eight-year-old son, wife, and sister-in-law.
The family were driving to school on a remote road in the Rueso district of Narathiwat province when the gunmen attacked.
The ambush provoked outrage from religious leaders and civil society groups within both the Muslim and Buddhist communities, who came together for Friday’s march through Rueso.
Dozens of local schoolchildren also joined the demonstration, carrying banners that said “stop the shooting, stop the killing” and “Stop hurting one another.”
“The aim of the rally is to denounce the killing of innocent people,” Col. Ruangsak Buadaeng, a local police commander, told AFP.
Thursday also saw a 44-year-old Muslim leader killed in a drive-by shooting and three plainclothes soldiers gunned down in front of stunned shoppers at a night market in Pattani province.
The insurgents, who operate in tight and secretive cells, rarely claim their attacks.
Shootings are frequent but it is often hard to work out whether they are related to the rebellion, criminal activity, or personal disputes.
But Thursday’s wave of violence appeared timed to undermine recent gains made in peace talks between the army and the Mara Patani — an umbrella group claiming to represent the insurgents.
Just earlier this week, the Thai army and the Mara Patani had agreed to create a limited “safety zone” in the region as a trust-building measure.
The deal, tantamount to a highly localized ceasefire, was a small but rare step forward in years of stuttering talks.
But analysts say the Mara do not represent the most active armed militant faction and have played down the significance of the “safety zone” announcement.
The Malay-Muslim majority deep south was colonized by Thailand over a century ago.
Locals accuse Thailand of steamrolling their unique identity and culture as well as committing rights abuses.
Insurgents mostly target security forces, local officials and public school teachers, who are viewed as collaborators with the state.
Last September, a bomb planted outside a school in Narathiwat province triggered widespread condemnation after it left three dead, including a four-year-old girl.
