Author: Richard S. Ehrlich
Publication: The Washington Times
Date: January 6, 2004
URL: http://washingtontimes.com/world/20040105-093638-4465r.htm
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
said yesterday he will enforce martial law in Thailand's mainly Muslim
south, where insurgents this week have seized weapons, burned schools and
attacked police outposts, killing four soldiers and three policemen.
Authorities said it was still not
clear whether the two days of attacks were the work of Muslim insurgents
angry about Thai troops in Iraq, or sophisticated criminals creating an
atmosphere of confusion and intimidation in which they can commit illegal
acts.
Martial law was already in existence
in the region, but will now be strictly implemented because "ordinary jurisdiction
will not work," said government spokesman Jakrapob Penkair in an interview.
The wave of violence started Sunday,
when about 30 raiders attacked an armory in Narathiwat province, killing
four soldiers and stealing more than 100 American- supplied M-16 assault
rifles, an army spokesman said.
Assailants set fire to about 20
schools in the province and destroyed several police posts in what appeared
to be related attacks.
Yesterday, the insurgents exploded
two bombs in the city of Pattani, killing three policemen and injuring
several others, Mr. Jakrapob said. Two other bombs were discovered before
they could be detonated.
The spokesman said it was "too early"
to tell who was responsible, but suspicion fell on the banned Pattani United
Liberation Organization (PULO), which boasted in May that Thai security
forces were "falling like leaves" as Muslims fought to free the south from
Bangkok's rule.
Muslims make up only 4 percent of
the population in Thailand, which is 95 percent Buddhist, but are a majority
in the extreme south of the country along the border with Malaysia.
Yesterday's attacks came as hundreds
of troops scoured the region searching for the perpetrators of Sunday's
raids, which demonstrated the insurgents' ability to stage synchronized
guerrilla operations.
The assailants drove a pickup truck
into the Thai army's camp at Narathiwat Ratchanakarin and opened fire,
killing four soldiers guarding a weapons stockpile.
The attackers fled, scattering spikes
on the road to deflate pursuers' tires, and blocked the route with felled
trees containing booby traps amid the branches, according to Thai news
reports.
The assailants also splashed gasoline
on about 20 schools and ignited them - a tactic favored over the past decade
by Muslim separatists, who complain that Islamic subjects are given short
shrift in the education system.
But Mr. Jakrapob insisted the attackers
were "robbers" who had no ideological motivation.
Other authorities, convinced the
attacks could not have been carried out without detailed knowledge of the
military camp, suggested that corrupt officials may have played a role.
"It is inconceivable that a civilian
could have sneaked inside the camp and sent information to the bandits,"
said Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, a retired general. He
described the attack as "well-planned."
Yesterday's violence began with
a blast in a police guard booth in Pattani that killed one policeman and
injured three others, Mr. Jakrapob said. An hour later, another bomb exploded
in a police station in a city park, severely injuring another policeman.
"Police found more bombs planted
near a department store," and while trying to defuse one of them, "we lost
two more policemen," Mr. Jakrapob said.
Thai news media speculated that
the attacks may be related to the nation's support of U.S. military operations
in Iraq and Afghanistan, which have angered Islamists across Asia.
More than 420 Thai troops are in
Iraq, and President Bush recently upgraded Thailand to "major non-NATO
ally" status.
Muslim ethnic Malays have conducted
hit-and-run skirmishes against Thai security forces for centuries, seeking
to end what they regard as "racist" Buddhist domination.
PULO Deputy President Lukman B.
Lima, in a rare dispatch from exile in Sweden, charged in May that Bangkok
"illegally incorporated" the far south into Thailand 100 years ago and
now rules it with "colonial" repression while "committing crimes against
humanity in the area."
Bangkok denies all complaints of
intentional mistreatment of Thailand's Muslims and insists separatist guerrillas
are "bandits" enriching themselves while spewing religious and political
rhetoric.