Bangkok Post

The move came after recent attacks in the three southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat  killed many people, and maimed and injured many more.

Southern Isoc spokesman Col Pramote Promin said human rights and people’s groups should publicly express opposition to the insurgents' inhumane actions in the deep South.

He called on all sides to give moral support to teachers and innocent people in the far South, in order to rapidly bring about peace and order in the three southernmost provinces.

A joint force of about 150 police, soldiers and village defence volunteers on Friday morning raided six targeted houses in Ban Pulai and Ban Baluga Palas in tambon Raman of Yala’s Raman district, acting on information they were being used as hideouts by militants.

They were specifically searching for  gunmen who attacked Raman police station late Thursday afternoon, injuring one policeman.

They found 30 kilogrammes of explosive materials hidden inside a house in Ban Baluga Palas. The house  owner, the father of a suspect arrested earlier, Satorpa Yangoh-ma, was taken to Raman police station for questioning.

In the nearby province of Pattani, all classes were temporarily suspended after the director of Ban Tha Kam Chum school in Nong Chik district, Nanthana Kaewchan, 51, was shot and killed late Thursday afternoon.

Boonsom Thongsriphai, chairman of the Federation of Teachers in Three Southern Border Provinces, called a meeting of school directors in Nong Chik district to discuss improvement of security measures for teachers.

Mr Boonsom said security units must review their security measures for teachers in risk areas. Such an attack  should not be allowed to happen again.

More than 5,000 people have been killed and over 9,000 hurt in more than 11,000 incidents, or about 3.5 a day, in the three southernmost provinces and the four districts of Songkhla since the violence erupted afresh in January 2004, according to Deep South Watch.