A 7am yesterday, a group of gunmen began shooting at a pick-up truck in which Ban Si Pinyo’s assistant village head Somchai Thongchan was riding with his family, including his son, to a school in Rusoh district. The attackers used M-16 rifles and pistols.

Somchai, his wife Rustika, his sister-in-law Som and his eight-year-old son Thanakit were killed immediately, while the other two passengers sustained serious injuries and were taken to a hospital nearby.

Religious leaders in the predominantly Muslim region strongly condemned the attack and expressed condolences to the family.

“The strong will of Islam is to protect lives, and on behalf of the religious leader I condemn the violence since it is against the religious doctrine,” said Pattani Islamic Committee’s chairman Dueramae Mamingji.

Safiae Jehloh, chairman of the Narathiwat Islamic Committee, also expressed his condolences. “We don’t want to see such incidents anymore. It [violence] goes against Islam, the religion honours people and protects lives,” he said.

Violence in the deep South killed more than 6,800 people since early 2004. Authorities in Bangkok said they could reach a peace agreement with the MARA Patani group, which is unlikely to represent the insurgents on the ground.

“I believe the attackers and those who were behind the attack want to discredit the peace process and create mistrust among people in the area,” Nimu Makaje, former vice chairman of the Pattani Islamic Committee, said.

“Only cowardly fighters who have no ideology attack such vulnerable people,” Pramote Prom-In, spokesman of the Internal Security Operation Command, said.

“However the authorities will try to bring them to justice and not use violence to retaliate.”