Unidentified gunmen have shot at a mosque in southern Thailand exactly three years after Thai forces killed more than 100 Muslims there.
No one was injured in the attack on the Krue Se Mosque, which authorities blamed on Muslim insurgents, AP reported.
"Opening fire on the holy mosque is a desperate act of insurgents which is meant to arouse the anger among the Muslim brothers," Army spokesman Colonel Akara Thiprote said.
The shooting comes on the third anniversary of an attack by security forces that killed 107 Muslims
Wareuma Waredoloh, chief of the village where the mosque is located, said about two dozen people were in the mosque for their pre-dawn prayers on Saturday when gunmen drove up in a car and started opening fire.
"I think the gunmen merely wanted Muslims to remember the incident three years ago and that is why they fired at the mosque," Wareuma said adding, "Actually the people are trying to forget that incident. We are here today to pray for peace, pray for the end of violence."
On Friday, Thailand`s army Chief General, Sonthi Boonyaratglin, ordered security to be bolstered in the country`s restive south ahead of the mosques` anniversary, including sending more personnel down to the south and boosting the numbers of check points.
More than 2,000 people have been killed since the violence flared three years ago in the Muslim-majority southernmost provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani. Southern Muslims have long complained of discrimination, especially in education and job opportunities, in Buddhist-dominated Thailand.
Saturday`s shooting came amid a rise in brutal attacks targeting both Muslims and Buddhists that prompted authorities in March to impose a curfew in two districts in Yala province.
Source: www.presstv.ir (2 Mei 2007)
