Suspected militant attacks in Thailand’s south leave 15 dead, says army

From AFP via the South China Morning Post and Deutsche Welle

At least 15 people were killed in attacks by suspected Muslim militants in Thailand’s violence-wracked south, an army spokesman said on Wednesday, the latest incident in the 15-year bloody insurgency. Suspected insurgents killed at least 15 volunteer village defense officers and wounded four others in Thailand’s Muslim-majority south, police said Wednesday.

Thailand’s three southernmost provinces have been in the grip of a conflict that has killed more than 7,000 people, as Malay-Muslim militants fight for more autonomy from the Thai state.

In the largest death toll in years, “twelve were killed at the scene, two more [died] at the hospital, and one died this morning”, said Pramote, adding that five others were injured.The attackers took M-16 rifles and shotguns from the checkpoints, he said. “These acts were by militants.”