BANGKOK
A raid on a village office killed four people in Thailand’s Muslim south Thursday as the Thai junta gears up to restart peace talks with separatist representatives.
Police general Kampanat Panitchprasert told the Anadolu Agency that an armed group attacked a local administration office in Pattani province - one of three provinces in the country’s far south with a majority Malay Muslim population.
The deputy-chief of the subdistrict, two other local officials and a private citizen were killed in the attack, while six other people were wounded.
According to preliminary police investigations, a group in a pickup truck and on several motorcycles stopped in front of the local subdistrict office, shooting into the office for several minutes before leaving.
Two bombs hidden near the office exploded after their escape, killing and injuring a number of people.
Police have said they believe insurgents were responsible.
The surge in violence erupted after the military government, which seized power May 22, named a new chief negotiator, National Security Council chief Thawil Pliensri, for a new round of talks with the rebels with Malaysia as a facilitator - for which a date has not yet been set.
The dialogue was initially started in March 2013 by then Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s civilian government, but was suspended last December as massive anti-government protests paralyzed the capital.
The bitter conflict, rooted in historical distrust between Malay Muslims and Thai Buddhists, has killed over 6,000 people and injured around 10,800 since 2004.
Although insurgents have never made their political goals clear, analysts says that some of them want a separation from the Thai State while others are asking for political autonomy.
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