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New York-based Human Rights Watch on Friday condemned the killings of public school teachers in Thailand's deep South and called on the authorities to take appropriate measures to bolster security at schools.

"In a sickening trend, separatist insurgents are increasingly attacking teachers, who they consider a symbol of government authority and Buddhist Thai culture," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "There is no excuse for such brutality."

Tensions flared up on June 8 after six masked gunmen opened fire with assault rifles and shotguns on a crowd of worshipers as they were performing the evening prayer at Al-Furquan mosque in Narathiwat's Joh I Rong district. Ten people died at the scene, including the imam, and one later at the hospital. At least another 12 people were seriously wounded. Local residents blamed the government's death squad for the attack. Joh I Rong is an insurgents' stronghold where Malay Muslims enjoy tremendous local support.

The spike in violence came immediately after a Thai court on May 29 cleared Thai security forces of any wrong doing in their handling of the Tak Bai massacre, an incident that ended in the death of 85 unarmed Malay Muslim demonstrators, 78 of whom died from suffocation when they were stacked on the back of military truck one on top another.

A series of killings of teachers, as well as highly coordinated attacks, followed the controversial verdict.

The Nation