Shooting incident happened in temple in Thailand, two monks were dead

Padly Nurdin

Sunday, Jan 20, 2019 | 08:35 pm

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News24xx.com - A group of gunmen attacked the Rattanaupap temple in Narathiwat province in Thailand. This attacked killed two monks and wounded two others on Friday. Local authorities, Pak Preechachon, said the perpetrators dressed in black and rifles entered the temple which located near the Malaysian border around Friday night.

"The attack happened around 7:30 pm when a group of armed men with black clothes entered the temple through the river from the back area" Pak told AFP on Saturday, January 19th 2019. "Two monks were dead at the temple, while two others were heavily injured.

On the same day, four security officials in the area were also wounded by two bomb explosions which exploded on one of the streets in the province. A rebel was reportedly shot dead in an incident that occurred near a school.

As a result of the incident on Friday night the monks were ordered to postpone the charity gathering ceremony which supposed to happen today in three provinces in southern Thailand. The military has also been instructed to tighten security against Islamic leaders in the region who might also be the target.

Quoted by AFP, Thailand's southern region has long been wracked by ethnic conflicts between Malay Muslim rebels and ethnic Buddhist majority. The area is directly adjacent to Malaysia. Since 2004, clashes between Malay rebels and ethnic Buddhists have often occurred in southern Thailand. Until now, the clashes have killed at least 7,000 people, most of them were civilians.

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