Eleven people have been shot dead in Thailand's Muslim-majority south as violence intensifies during the holy month of Ramadan. The south has seen a recent upsurge in attacks, with shootings of Buddhists and Muslims alike.
The spate of attacks on Wednesday marks one of the bloodiest for months in Thailand's insurgency-hit provinces bordering Malaysia, where a separatist rebellion has been raging for more than five years.
Police say gunmen shot dead a soldier as he rode his motorcycle in restive Narathiwat province, while a deputy village chief was gunned down and killed in a teashop in the same province hours later.
A Muslim man was shot dead and his wife seriously injured as they returned from a religious school in Narathiwat. In neighbouring Pattani province, gunmen killed a Muslim religious teacher and his 13-year-old son after following them through the provincial capital late Wednesday, police said.
Gunmen earlier shot dead a Muslim candidate for the local administration as he returned from prayers at a mosque in Pattani, and in separate attacks they shot dead three other Muslim men in the same province.
Meanwhile attackers raided a house in Yala province and shot dead another Muslim man as he broke his Ramadan fast on Wednesday evening, police said.
Security forces also shot dead a wanted Muslim militant in a clash in Yala early Wednesday.
Almost 3,900 people have been killed and thousands more injured since the insurgency erupted in early 2004, led by insurgents who have never publicly stated their goals.
Thailand's four southernmost provinces made up an autonomous Malay Muslim sultanate until the region was annexed by predominantly Buddhist Thailand in 1902, sparking decades of tension.
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