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Teacher gunned down in class
24/07/2006 10:21 - (SA)
Bangkok - A suspected Muslim gunman fatally shot a primary school teacher in a classroom full of children in southern Thailand on Monday.
Thai police colonel Banlue Chawej said the gunman had disguised himself in a student uniform, entered the fourth grade classroom and killed Prasarn Martchu, a 46-year-old Buddhist teacher, while he was teaching at a public school in Narathiwat's Rue So district.
"The teacher was still holding a piece of chalk" when he was killed, said Banlue.
He said the gunman had fled on a motorcycle with a getaway driver.
The primary school has 11 teachers and 250 students. It was temporarily closed after the shooting, said police.
Prasarn had worked at the school for more than 20 years.
He was the 44th teacher killed by suspected Muslim gunmen since 2004, said Sanguan Jintarat, head of the Narathiwat Teachers' Association.
He said the gunmen see public school teachers as tools of the government, and have made teachers a prime target of violent attacks.
The military and police have provided security escorts for teachers as they travel to and from schools.
Narathiwat is one of three Muslim-majority provinces in southern Thailand gripped by sectarian violence since 2004.
More than 1 500 people have died in the violence, which police blame on separatist Muslim groups.
- AP
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