Two Buddhists shot dead in Thai south

Two Buddhists shot dead in Thai south

THAILAND: Two Buddhist men have been shot dead by suspected
Islamic militants in Thailand's restive south, police said on
Sunday, in the latest episode in violence that has claimed more
than 570 lives since it flared last year.

Damrong Suwanarangsri, 62, a former household employee of the
local police chief, was gunned down in Narathiwat province on
early Saturday morning as he rode his motorcycle to a nearby
fruit plantation he was managing.

"Two men on motorcycle shot him three times with an 11
millimeter pistol before they escaped," a police spokesman told
AFP. "He died at the scene".

The spokesman said 35-year-old villager Suriya Kaewmanee was
killed in the same province late Saturday after also being shot
three times by two men riding a motorbike. He died later the same
day in hospital.

"The attacks were related to the violence that is still going
on," said the spokesman, referring to almost daily attacks by
separatists on police, troops, government officials, teachers at
state schools, Buddhist monks and villagers. -- AFP