Yala's Governor Grisada Boonrach on Tuesday called on the insurgents and the armed forces for restraint amid a growing fear that more violence are heading their way.
In an open letter, Grisada express regrets for the lost of lives and injuries and called on "all sides" to stop violence against civilians, including attacks deemed to be an act of "revenge".
Grisada's reference to "revenge" suggested that the insurgency related attacks may be in response to the authorities' heavy handed handling of the ongoing conflict in his province, although he did not elaborate.
Beside urging for clam on all sides, Grisada also stated that he was willing to take up any complains from the local residents to ensure that justice is serve to all parties.
Grisada is known to have a good working relations with the Malay-speaking community and at time used his position to intervene in security and judicial matters to ensure that the suspects receive fair treatment from the law enforcement officials.
In the letter, he urged the Muslim community not to lose faith in the state apparatus and maintained that he has been frank and honest with them ever since has was posted down here.
He pointed to his role in security the release of two Yala Islamic religious teachers who were serving life sentence in a Cambodian prison for their involvement with the a known Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leader, Riduan Isamuddin, also known as Hambali, currently under the US detention.
His Peace Outreach Center (POC) has served as a point of entry for many Malay Muslim villagers and would-be insurgents who opted for dialogue and trust building with state agencies.
But effort to reconcile the differences with the Malay-speaking region has faced several obstacles given the climate of fear mistrust among the local Muslim population, as well as the culture of impunity among security forces in the region.