|
Tensions rise in Thailand
01/06/2007 13:52 - (SA)
Yala, Thailand - Tensions spiralled on Friday in Thailand's troubled south after 11 soldiers were killed in the single deadliest attack against security forces since a separatist insurgency erupted there in 2004.
The troops died late on Thursday when their truck was bombed and ambushed by suspected separatist rebels in Yala, one of Thailand's Muslim-majority provinces bordering Malaysia.
"The militants have stepped up attacks in order to increase pressure on authorities," said army spokesperson Acra Tiproch, adding that one more death had been added to the overnight toll.
"This was the biggest single attack yet," he said.
He said that the rebels hoped to provoke a heavy-handed reaction from security forces, who could then be blamed for committing atrocities against residents in the south.
"The government will still adhere to a policy of reconciliation," he said.
Insurgency rages on
Despite a series of peace-building measures, Thailand's military-backed government is under fire for failing to quell the insurgency which has claimed about 2 200 lives since erupting January 2004 and only appears to be worsening.
Many districts in Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani provinces have become virtual no-go zones for government troops.
Both soldiers and civilians die each day in shootings and bombings, while the region has also been plagued by frequent arson attacks.
"The situation in the south is getting worse day by day. The militants are stepping up violence to show to the government that they cannot help people in the south," said Srawut Aree, a senior researcher at Chulalongkorn University's Muslim Studies Centre.
Others say Thursday's attack showed that the militants were becoming more sophisticated and confident in confronting better-equipped government troops.
"The latest attack showed that militants are increasingly capable of attacking armed security forces," said Panitan Wattanayagorn, a security expert and political science professor at Chulalongkorn University.
"The militants are becoming more confident in launching big attacks against the military," he added.
The attack against the soldiers capped one of the bloodiest days in the recent history of the insurgency.
More violence
Earlier on Thursday five young men were gunned down in a mosque in the Saba Yoi district of Songkhla province, which borders Yala and has also seen a spike in separatist violence.
Elsewhere in the south, two people, including another soldier, were shot and killed, while nine troops were wounded in a series of bomb blasts.
Thailand's three southern-most provinces were once an autonomous sultanate, until the Muslim-majority region was annexed by mainly Buddhist Thailand a century ago.
Separatist unrest has erupted there periodically ever since.
The Thai military currently deploys about 30 000 troops in the three restive provinces and plans to send more soldiers in a bid to stem the ongoing violence.
- AFP
|
News
