Bangkok, Thailand - An elderly Buddhist man has been beheaded and four people shot dead in the latest upsurge of violence blamed partly on Islamic separatists in southern Thailand.
The body of retired teacher Kamol Chunetr, 65, was discovered in Pattani province's Yaring district late Tuesday. His severed head was found in a bag on a road two kilometers (about one mile) from his house by soldiers on patrol.
"We believe his murder is linked to the unrest in the south but we cannot yet rule out personal conflict," a police officer in Yaring told AFP.
Police said they found a note on the victim's body but would not disclose its contents.
Kamon was the second victim of a beheading in 10 days in the deep south, following the killing of a 59-year-old plantation worker in neighboring Yala province whose head was also left by the roadside.
A note left on that victim read: "You arrested innocent people, so I kill innocent people".
Four Muslim men were also killed in three separate shootings in the region on Tuesday, according to police.
Matauhe Batuseng, 47, was shot in the head by men on a motorcycle as he worked at a rubber plantation in Bacho district of Narathiwat province.
Yako Kabo, a 48-year-old former deputy village headman, was also gunned down by men on a motorcycle who followed him home in Pattani's Yarang district.
Two Muslim men, Mayeesaw Sa-i, 43, local district headman in Pattani's Saiburi district, and his driver Adiming Isa were shot several times in their pickup truck in Saiburi.
"They died at the scene," said a local policeman, adding that the crime pointed toward the continuing unrest that has gripped the region for over a year.
More than 700 people have been killed since January 2004 when a bloody attack on a military base triggered a violent uprising in Thailand's three southernmost provinces bordering Malaysia.
Authorities blame the unrest on a mixture of Islamic separatist insurgents, organised crime and contraband smugglers.
Interior Minister Chidchai Vanasathidya on Tuesday spoke of the complex nature of the crisis in southern Thailand, which he said was brought about by Muslim "extremists" as well as local "influential groups" linked to vice.
"The southern problem is like a chess match," he said. "When one side puts the other in check, the other side must respond. But it must be done within a framework of rules, which for us means doing our best within the law."
The government has been accused of a heavy-handed response to the violence. The tough stance has strained relations with several Muslim countries, including Thailand's mainly Muslim neighbor Malaysia, which holds the chairmanship of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Earlier this month a six-member OIC team visited the deep south in part to assess the ongoing violence and meet local government, civic and religious leaders.