Imam dies after being shot in Thailand's troubled south

By P.S. Waller

BANGKOK (AA) – A Muslim religious leader was fatally shot in a drive-by attack in Thailand's insurgency plagued south late Sunday night, according to local officials.

Sergeant Narawit Ratchakityothin, the investigating officer of Yaring district in Pattani province, told Anadolu Agency on Monday that the attack occurred at 7.10 p.m. (1310GMT) as the 46-year-old imam, Abdulloh Doe, was driving to a local village mosque on his motorcycle.

An unidentified man who had been following Doe shot him several times in the back with a pistol.

Ratchakityothin said that Doe had succumbed to his injuries at the scene.

Thailand's south -- in particular the three provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat -- has been wracked by insurgency for more than 50 years that has become one of the deadliest low-intensity conflicts on the planet.

The shooting, however, is not thought to be related.

"We believe at this time that the shootings were due to a personal conflict," Ratchakityothin said by phone.

The southern insurgency is rooted in a century-old ethno-cultural conflict between Malay Muslims living in the southern region and the Thai central state where Buddhism is considered the de-facto national religion.

Armed insurgent groups were formed in the 1960s after the then-military dictatorship tried to interfere in Muslim schools, but the insurgency faded in the 1990s.

In 2004, a rejuvenated armed movement – composed of numerous local cells of fighters loosely grouped around an organization called the National Revolutionary Front or BRN – emerged.

Negotiations between an umbrella group representing various insurgent factions – including some from the BRN – and the military government – which seized power in a May 2014 coup – have been ongoing since 2015, with Malaysia acting as a facilitator.