BANGKOK, (MILLAT/APP/AFP) – More than 1,000 people
marched in Thailand’s insurgency-torn south on Friday to condemn
the killing of a Buddhist family, including an eight-year-old boy,
as a sudden spike in violence undercuts progress in peace talks.
The under-reported rebellion waged by Malay 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 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
Ruso district of Narathiwat province when the gunmen
attacked.
The ambush provoked outrage from religious leaders and
civil society groups from both the Muslim and Buddhist communities,
who came together for Friday’s march through Ruso.
“The aim of the rally is to denounce the killing of innocent
people,” said Colonel Ruangsak Buadaeng, a local police
commander.