Thailand plans special agency to pursue insurgents in volatile south (AP) Updated: 2005-10-28 09:57
Thailand will set up a special agency to pursue insurgents in the country's
volatile south, the prime minister said, as he vowed that attackers who raided
60 targets, killing seven people and stealing a cache of weapons, would be
caught.
The raids represented one of the biggest shows of strength by Islamic
separatist guerrillas who in January last year launched an insurrection that has
cost more than 1,100 lives in the southernmost, Muslim-dominated provinces of
Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani.
Three of the seven villagers killed in the raids, carried out over two hours
late Wednesday, were village headmen, Lt. Gen. Khwanchat Klaharn, the top
security official in the region, told reporters Thursday.
Many of the 90 stolen weapons were shotguns that the government gave to
villages last year for self-defense. The weapons are often kept by the village
headman.
Provincial authorities have offered rewards of 20,000 baht (US$490; euro400)
for the return of any weapons.
One suspected raider has been arrested, Khwanchat said, identifying him as
Irafin Bue-nae, a student at an Islamic boarding school. He gave no further
details.
Thaksin, speaking at his weekly press conference Thursday, said the attacks
involved "large-scale coordination," and vowed that the authorities will arrest
"many more" militants.
He also said the government will set up a special agency to pursue insurgents
and that he had instructed officials to take a more "proactive" approach in
quelling the rebellion.
Aware of criticism that security forces have made the situation in the south
worse by using heavy-handed tactics, he said the authorities would act with
"restraint and patience."
In the latest act of defiance, four bombs exploded on a railway line in
Narathiwat province's Sungai Padi district on Thursday afternoon, derailing four
cars and injuring one passenger, said police Capt. Netiwut Dikaew.
Most of Thailand's 65 million people are Buddhists, but as many as 10 percent
are Muslims who live mostly in the three southernmost provinces. They have long
complained of discrimination, and rebellions have flared up from time to time
over the past century.
Meanwhile, authorities said they arrested four more people in connection with
the slayings of a Buddhist monk and two boys in Pattani province.
On October 16, insurgents attacked a Buddhist temple, killing the 76-year-old
monk and two young helpers.
Authorities have since launched several raids resulting in the arrest of 18
people over the incident, said police Lt. Col. Narunart Suwanlapa of Pattani.
The latest arrests were of four unidentified men who are accused of taking part
in the killings, Narunart said.
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