Bangkok, Thailand - Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra called for calm in the restive Muslim south on Monday after the murders of a monk and two teenage boys at a Buddhist temple stoked fears of growing religious tension.
"Even Muslim leaders cannot stand this. It was an act human beings would not dare to do," Thaksin told reporters when asked about Sunday's attack in Pattani province in which militants slit the throat of the 76-year-old monk, and burnt his body along with the two teenagers.
"The culprits will get their just desserts," said Thaksin, urging Buddhists not to take the law into their own hands in the Muslim-majority region where over 900 people have died in 21 months of separatist violence.
The attacks came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in which police figures from last year showed intensified attacks on civilian and government targets, both Muslim and Buddhists, compared to other months.
Two people have been beheaded this Ramadan, raising the tally of decapitations to at least 12 since the unrest began in January 2004.
Police said on Monday that four Buddhists and two Muslims had been shot dead in separate attacks in the southern region over the last 24 hours, besides the killings of the monk and the teenagers.
More than 30,000 troops have been deployed to put down the insurgency.
As well as failing to provide security, the army and police have made little headway in tracking down those behind the daily attacks, in large part -- according to Bangkok -- due to Malaysia's laxity in stopping militants crossing the border.
The unrest has soured relations between Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, with communication between the two governments reduced mainly to mudslinging delivered via their respective national media.