Islamic teachers shot dead


Two Islamic teachers have been shot dead by unidentified gunmen in two separate cases in the deep South as police claimed to have made headway in Monday's murder of two female public school teachers with the arrest of one of the culprits.

In Raman district, gunmen shot dead Abdulrahman Sama, 60, an Islamic teacher at a village pondok, or traditional Islamic boarding school, in Ban Balor.


Police said his body was riddled with M16 bullets and left in the cab of his pickup truck that he was driving at the time.

In Songkhla's Saba Yoi district, Da-oh Mundai-che, 42, another Islamic teacher, was shot dead on Monday evening as he walked to a nearby store in his village.

Police said the victim was a graduate of an Islamic school in Indonesia and was living in the village with his Indonesian wife.

In Narathiwat, police arrested at least one of the culprits in the murder of two female teachers who were shot dead in broad daylight in front of their colleagues and students in Srisakorn district.

According to a police source, Maleepeng Che-leh, 19, has confessed to being involved in the murder but maintained his role was to drive the two killers to and from the crime scene.

The victims, Thippaporn Thassanopas, 42, and Yupha Sengwas, 26, were shot dead at close range during their lunch break at Ban Sakoh Elementary School.

In Yala's Tambon Banang Sta, an eight-man Ranger unit was ambushed during a daily patrol. The five minute gun battle left one ranger injured.

In Rusoh district, police were investigating the torching of a local public school in Ban Bango Stae that took place late on Monday evening. The arsonists broke into the teachers' recreation room on and set it on fire.
Arson attacks and the murder of the public school teachers have prompted principals at more than 200 schools to close their doors indefinitely.

The Nation