Published in Washington, D.C.
January 6, 2004
Muslim areas get martial law
Policemen, soldiers killed
By Richard S. Ehrlich
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
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 two 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 two
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 injured three policeman, 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.
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