Nine people have died in the past 24 hours in a wave of attacks by suspected Islamic militants¹ in southern Thailand.

泰国南部过去24小时的袭击潮中死亡9人，怀疑是伊斯兰武装所为。

 Gunman burst into a house in Yala province, and killed four people

The latest violence coincides with the fifth anniversary of an attack on the Krue Se mosque², which marked a sharp escalation³（扩大，增加） in the separatist conflict.

It was the first big clash between the security forces and militants, and more than 100 people died in just one day.

About 3,500 people have died since then and successive governments have made little progress in stemming（填塞物） the unrest.

Thailand annexed⁴（附加物） the three southern provinces - Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani - in 1902, but the vast majority of people there are Muslim and speak a Malay dialect, in contrast to the Buddhist⁵ Thai speakers in the rest of the country.

Insurgents⁶（叛乱分子） target people they perceive（觉察，感觉） to be collaborating⁷（协作） with the Bangkok government - using bomb blasts, beheadings（斩首） and shootings.

They also try to force Buddhist residents from the area, with the aim of ultimately establishing a separate Islamic state.

High alert

Gunmen stormed into a house in Yala province late on Monday, opening fire on a Muslim family and killing⁸ four people.

Two men were later found dead outside a nearby mosque（清真寺）.

In other incidents, a Buddhist government official was shot dead in Pattani province, a Muslim man was fatally shot while watching a football match in Yala and another man was killed nearby in a drive-by shooting.

According to the BBC correspondent in Bangkok, Jonathan Head, there is nothing remarkable⁹ about the attacks of the past 24 hours.

Now in its sixth year, the renewed war in Thailand's south continues to exact a heavy toll¹⁰ on the local inhabitants with relentless¹¹（无情的，冷酷的） regularity¹², our correspondent says.

Early on Monday there were 11 co-ordinated attacks on schools and electricity substations. On Saturday a bomb blast injured 15 people.

The bloody¹³ assault on the Krue Se mosque by Thai security forces on 28 April 2004 is seen as an important point in the long-running conflict, leading to a marked escalation in the violence.

Security forces stormed the mosque and killed 32 Muslims who had barricaded¹⁴ themselves inside. More than 70 others died in separate incidents on the same day.

"Security forces are taking special precautions（预防，留心） and are on high alert on the [Krue Se] anniversary," army spokesman Parinya told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

Human rights groups argue that the government's failure to punish any members of the security forces for abuses against civilians¹⁵ has alienated¹⁶（疏远的，被隔开的） the population in Thailand's deep south.

But other analysts¹⁷ believe the militants, who operate in small cells affiliated¹⁸（附属的，有关联的） with Islamic schools, are not interested in negotiating with the government, whatever concessions¹⁹ it makes.