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June 18, 2006

Thailand: Bombs and Shootings In Muslim South - Two Die

News from Reuters AlertNet, the Bangkok Post, TNA News and the Nation reports that more bombings have been carried out in the Muslim south of Thailand.

The current wave of bombings began on June 15, a day known to insurgent separatists as "Pattani Day". At least 50 bombs were set off in the provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala on this day, killing three people and wounding 16. On June 16 about a dozen bombs went off, injuring seven people. Another bomb went off yesterday, killing one man and injuring two women.

In Cho Airong (Joh I Rong) district in Narathiwat province today, four policemen were seriously injured and two local women were also hurt, when a roadside bomb was detonated beside a police border patrol's van. About 9.40 am, the bomb, hidden in a metal box and weighing about 10 kilograms, was set off by remote control. The two women, Yana Umar, 24, and Suwareeya Teemo, 24, had been following the police convoy on motorcycles. One of the women was a government official.

The bomb, which was hidden beside an electricity pole near a street junction went off as a convoy of three vans, carrying 22 police officers, was passing. A crater, two feet deep and three feet wide, was left beside the road. A SIM card, fragments of mobile phone and shrapnel were littered at the scene of the blast.

In the evening, a bomb was detonated outside Koh Sawat Buddhist temple in Tak Bai district in Narathiwat. The bomb had been set off by a mobile phone, remains of which were scattered about the scene. A marble bench was damaged, and a hole was made in the temple wall. No-one was injured.

In Thepa district in Songkhla province this morning, five police escaped an explosion which had been set beside a pile of tyres which had been set on fire. When police arrived to investigate, the bomb was triggered. The bomb missed the car, and no-one was hurt.

As well as bombings, the shootings which have characterized the southern violence, continued. Before the bomb attack in Cho Airong district, another shooting happened in Narathiwat province. 48-year old, Nisoh Muakha, a close aide to a politician from the Thai Rak Thai party, was shot dead by suspected militants.

Nisoh, who was a former chairman of the Narathiwat Provincial Administrative Organization had been driving a truck when it had been attacked by at least four gunmen, and plunged off the road, with the driver dead inside. Niso had been driving to Narathiwat University to take a class, when the gunmen, armed with AK-47 assault rifles, ambushed him. He was hit in the torso and the head.

In Mae Lan district, Pattani, four gunmen, armed with M16 rifles and a shotgun fired at a group of people chatting outside the house of an elderly woman. Jian Yodpong, an 88-year old woman, was killed instantly. 60-year old Thaleng Chuenja and 17-year old Visanu Chansaro were injured in the shooting.

Before the bombing campaign began, we reported on June 14 that arrest warrants had been issued for 46 people who were suspected of being part of a mob that savagely beat two Buddhist teachers in a school in Gujingruepo village in Rangae district.

The attack happened on Friday May 19. The teacher,s 26-year old Juling Pongkanmul and 30 year old Sirinat Thavornsuk, were singled out because of their faith, and beaten with sticks. Ms Juling was severely brain damaged in the assault, which went on for an hour. She is in a coma, and on a life support. If she survives, she will be mentally disabled.

Today, eight suspects from Gujingruepo village were taken to the police by a local leader and handed over.

Reuters reports that in Yala province, three suspected drug dealers were arrested today on the border of Yala and Pattani provinces. Lt Gen Adul Saengsingkaew told reporters: "We have some evidence that they may be involved in the insurgency in Yala." At the residence of the three men, 50 kilograms of marijuana, pistols, and rifles were discovered. 30 kilograms of urea fertilizer, which can be used in crude bombs, was also found at the residence.

Since January 4, 2004, there has been an armed insurgency in the provinces of the south, which has cost 1,300 lives. Insurgents are said to wish for the three provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat to secede from Thailand. Formerly, these provinces, as well as two districts of Songhkla province comprised an independent Muslim sultanate called Pattani. A century ago, this sultanate's territory became annexed into Thailand.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at June 18, 2006 5:53 PM

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