Shootings kill 3 in South

Published on November 19, 2005 - Two men on a motorcycle and dressed like college students yesterday fatally shot a Yala police officer – also on a motorcycle – three times in the back. The shooting followed two killings in Narathiwat by gunmen on Thursday, police said.

Pol Sergeant Sophon Maichan, 54, tried to shoot back at his attackers but missed, police said. It appeared that he was unable to take the pain from the bullet wounds.

“We have alerted all police stations sharing the border with Muang district in Yala to set up checkpoints to stop the motorcycle we think was used by the gunmen,” said Colonel Khamron Yodrak, superintendent of Muang Police Station.

Late Thursday, Anwar Jeahma, 41, a Muslim villager from Joh I Rong district in the restive southern province of Narathiwat, was gunned down in front of a teashop.

In a separate attack on Thursday, Mahasae Tayae, 47, a Muslim Ranger in Sungai Padi district of Narathiwat, was shot four times in the head while returning from work, police said.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in the Muslim-majority provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat since early last year.

The Nation, Agence France-Presse
Narathiwat