15 killed in ‘rebel attacks’ in Thailand

At least fifteen people were gunned down in an ambush by suspected Muslim militants in Thailand’s violence-wracked south, an army spokesman said yesterday, one of the bloodiest days in the 15-year insurgency. Thailand’s three southernmost provinces have been in the grip of a conflict that has killed more than 7,000 people, as Malay-Muslim militants fight for more autonomy from the Thai state. Despite the high death toll, the highly localised unrest garners few international headlines.