YALA, June 16 (TNA) – A female teacher was gunned down Tuesday morning on her way to school in the violence-plagued province of Yala, and two policemen were killed in a bombing outside a police station in Pattani.
A middle-aged female teacher was killed shortly after 8am Tuesday on her way to school in the violence-plagued province of Yala.
Ban Phomeng School in Raman district’s Tambon Kayuborkok halted classes and closed the school following the death of the 117th teacher known to be killed in the southern insurgency, according to the Southern Teachers’ Confederation.
Rekha Issara, 54, died at the scene after being shot in the head by the passenger of a passing motorcycle on the Raman-Phomeng Road, not far from the school.
In a separate incident, two policemen were killed Tuesday morning in a bombing outside Saiburi police station in Pattani.
Teachers and security personnel are frequent targets in a series of violent attacks launched by insurgents in the southern border provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala recently.
The latest violence occurred after three teachers, including one who was pregnant, were killed and two wounded in the past few weeks after schools were reopened for the new academic year.
Thailand’s educational system, most apparently represented in communities by teachers, is frequently targeted for violence in Thailand’s Muslim majority southernmost provinces. The insurgent movement views the education system as part of a sustained effort by the central government to supplant the culture and religion of the mainly ethnic Malay majority in the region with the Thai language, and the Buddhist religion and culture.
More than 3,500 people have been killed since violence erupted in early 2004. (TNA)
General News : Last Update : 11:48:11 16 June 2009 (GMT+7:00)
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