Western Resistance

« Russia: Muslim Mufti Wants "Da Vinci Code" Banned | | Iran: Mullahs Eye Discriminatory Clothing Law »

May 18, 2006

Thailand: Teachers Are Targets In Muslim South

This week, according to AKI , schools in the predominantly southern provinces have been reopened after a two-month holiday, and the event was marked by one bomb attack and two killings. On Wednesday, May 10, two teachers were killed when a primitive bomb exploded outside a teahouse in Pattani province. One of these was pregnant. The bomb had been hidden in a motorcycle, and also killed a soldier and wounded 16 others.

On Tuesday (16 May), a bomb went off near a policeman's car in the province of Narathiwat. The bomb killed a policeman and a passer-by.

Security surrounding the return to schools' reopening was stepped up. Teachers are widely seen by militants and fighters in the region as agents of the Thai government.

The insurgents, who wish to see the three southern provinces of Narthiwat, Yala and Pattani secede from Thailand, started a campaign of killings on January 4, 2004, and the death toll is now at more than 1,200. These provinces, as well as two districts of Songkhla province, formerly comprised the independent Muslim sultanate of Pattani which, after an earlier invasion, became incorporated into Thailand a century ago.

An editorial in the Bangkok Post on Wednesday quoted an Army spokesman, who said that 37 districts in the three provinces are still "infested" with separatist insurgents. During the last two years, more than 50 teachers have been killed in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat. Several school buildings and teachers' living areas have been set alight, or shot at by insurgents. On the first day of the insurgency, known as the "night of the fires", 20 schools had been set alight.

Teachers have been issued with bullet-proof vests and weapons, but this does not stop their fear. Such is the climate of apprehension that at the start of the year there was a strike by teachers in the province of Yala. This caused more than 200 schools to be closed for an extended period.

On 11 May, the Southern Border Provinces Peace-building Command handed over compensation to relatives of three teachers who were involved in a bomb attack on April 19. Two of the teachers were seriously injured and one, Hasanee Sunokhabutr, was killed. Thousands of teachers in the three provinces have asked for transfer from the troubled region.

Though most schools are regarded as law-abiding, a small number of private schools, known as ponoh and a few teachers and headmasters are suspected of "teaching violence and sowing the seeds of revolt", stated the Bangkok Post on Tuesday.

Currently Thailand is in a political crisis, since Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra stepped down on April 4, amid allegations of corruption. As we reported on April 24, attempts to hold elections for a new government were marred by bomb attacks at polling stations. Elections have been held, but now, according to the Bangkok Post today, the Constitution Court has annulled the April 2 election.

While the country is pressing for electoral reform and judicial accountability for the failings of the election, there has been discussion of a Muslim political party. On 13 May, the Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister, Chidchai Wannasathit, questioned whether the establishment of such a party would quell the insurgent violence in the predominantly Muslim south. 80% of the population in the three provinces are Muslim.

The concept of the Islamic party was first suggested by Muslim scholars from Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala. The concept of an Islamic party has been criticised by some influential Muslims. Abdulloh Abbru, an economist from the Islamic College of Pattani said: "The Muslim party would become only a voice of people in the three southernmost provinces. A political party must be set up for the sake of the nation."

While the country is in political disarray, the violence of the insurgents seems to have been stepped up accordingly to exploit the situation. And teachers are not the only public servants who are viewed as targets for the Islamists' violence.

On Monday 8 May, two soldiers on patrol were wounded in a bomb blast, and on the following day three men were shot dead in Southern provinces. One of those shot dead was a 44 year old Islamic religious leader, Sugri Sarai. A former village head, he was shot as he went to work in Narathiwat's Reuso district.

On 11 May, a fireman was shot dead in Waeng district in Narathiwat, in the presence of his two-year old daughter. The pair had been riding on a motorcycle when 38-year old Wae-yusaree Yusoh was shot twice in the head by a motorcycle gunman. His daughter Eruefa was thrown from the motorbike as he was shot, and she sustained minor injuries as she hit the road. On the same day, a hospital worker in Pattani was seriously injured after a gun attack while he made his way to work.

On 12 May, a defence volunteer was murdered in Narathiwat province. His body was discovered in a rubber plantation. He had been garotted, and face had been beaten so severely, his skull was nearly in two pieces. He usually stood guard at his village of Ban Suwaree in Rue So district.

The same day, in Cho Airong district in Narathiwat, the headman of Ban Ba-ngo Dudung village was shot and seriously wounded while riding his motorcycle. His assailants were two men on another motorcycle. When the headman fell, the men dismounted, but he shot at them and they fled.

In Pattani province, assault rifles were discovered at two locations on 12 May. An M16 A1 rifle was found in a sack with 51 rounds of ammunition in Yaring district, and later two AK 47 rifles and 20 rounds of ammunitions were recovered in another part of the district. These two had been hidden in a sack, and were believed to have been ready to be distributed to insurgents. Five more rifles were discovered in neighbouring Narathiwat province. These M16 rifles had been previously stolen from an army camp two years previously, and were identified by their serial numbers. As well as these, an M1 rifle, a grenade and several hundred rounds of ammunition were retrieved in the cache.

The original raid from which the rifles were stolen had involved aloss of 413 guns, including 380 M16 assult rifles, 2 M60 machine guns, and 24 pistols. The raid took place on January 4, 2004, on the same day that the insurgency began. So far, only 20 rifles have been recovered from the raid.

On the same day that the rifles were recovered, Friday 12 May, a gang of five was arrested, all members of militant group Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK). The arrests followed shooting attacks against local people.

On 13 May, a 16-year old youth was killed as he took his mother home from market on his motorcycle. He was a victim of a drive-by shooting. His mother survived.

Following a tip-off, more guns were recovered from Raman district in Yala on Sunday 14 May. The rifles, three AK-47s, were assumed to belong to an insurgent group headed by Abdulrohing Asong, who had a warrant for involvement in several violent assaults. The same day, a policeman was killed in Sai Buri district, Pattani. He was leading a soccer team to play when he was shot. He had been the victim of numerous threats before his killing.

On 16 May, a 7 to 10 kilogram bomb exploded in Narathiwat, killing a soldier on patrol and a villager, and injuring three others. The bomb was composed of ammonium nitrate, dynamite and diesel fuel, with nails added. It had been triggered by a cell-phone.

On Wednesday 17 May, in the village of Gotorano in Yarang district, Pattani province, police were prevented from arresting a suspected insurgent. While mounting a search of the village, police discovered 29-year old Matohe Muna, who was wanted for involvement in violent attacks. He was sheltering in the house of a villager. When the police tried to escort Matohe away to the police station, a crowd of women and children surrounded them, and tried to drag the suspect away.

Back-up forces were called, but these took hours to arrive. During this time, the villagers had sprinkled broken glass and spikes on the roads leading into the village. They also placed wooden obstacles, to prevent entry. Eventually, after the interventions of a village imam failed to dissuade the villagers, the police released their prisoner.

In Yaha district of Yala on the same day, a police patrol discovered bomb components in a durian orchard in Gagong village. The police were acting on a tip-off, concerning a bomb attack at Padaeru school on April 24. The bomb-making material was found inside a rucksack.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 18, 2006 10:12 PM

Comments

Posted by: leavingtheleft at May 19, 2006 10:21 AM

Post a comment