| It's the Jean Luc-Picard approach ... |
BANGKOK, Thailand - Thai officials held emergency meetings Friday after a stunning raid by Islamic terrorists insurgents who blew up power transformers to black out a southern provincial capital and then attacked with homemade firebombs and guns, killing two policemen and injured 22 people.
| By Gawd, meetings. Emergency meetings. Long emergency meetings. Long, nattering emergency meetings. |
Security forces arrested three suspects in the Thursday evening assault on the southern city of Yala, one of them a local university student, officials said.
| Guess he wasn't inspired by crushing poverty to join a life of terror. |
Interior Minister Chitchai Wannasathit on Friday issued an appeal for unity after the attack, the latest episode in a long spate of almost-daily violence in Thailandâs Muslim-dominated deep south since early last year. âThis is the time of national crisis - I would appeal for all Thai people to be united and join hands to fight against the terrorists people who have bad intentions toward the country,â said Chitchai, who also is a deputy prime minister.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra called an emergency meeting of Cabinet ministers and security officials in Bangkok to discuss the situation.
Suspected Muslim terrorists militants have staged isolated bombings and shootings in larger towns and cities in Thailandâs far south, but mass hit-and-run assaults have generally taken place only in smaller, remote towns which are less well-guarded.
Thursdayâs attacks wreaked havoc in Yala. The terrorists attackers first plunged the city into darkness by destroying some electrical transformers. They then roamed the streets, targeting areas where there is nighttime commercial activity. Officials broadcast warnings to city residents to stay in their homes.
Regional army commander Lt. Gen. Kwanchart Kraharn accused the attackers, whose number was unclear, of targeting civilians.
| Where the hell were you when the terrorists were roaming the streets of Yala? |
He said bombs - most of them apparently Molotov cocktails - were set off at âa hotel, two 7-Elevens, near a restaurant and near the railway station - all of which are usually crowded with people, so we can say that the troublemakers targeted innocent people.â
After firebombs struck, the attackers opened fire on people with automatic weapons and engaged security personnel in gun battles before making their getaway, Kwanchart said. At least 17 civilians were reported hurt.
Yala Deputy Governor Winyu Thongsong confirmed that that police officer died Thursday night, and another of his wounds at hospital Friday morning. He said 22 people were injured. âThe attackers were well-trained terrorists separatist insurgents who have been mingling among the ordinary people for some time,â army commander Gen. Pravit Wongsuwan said Friday morning in Bangkok before flying down to the scene for emergency meetings with colleagues.
Army spokesman Col. Somkuan Saengpataraneth said Friday that a combined force of soldiers and police have brought the situation back to normal. About 1,000 soldiers garrisoned nearby had been rushed Thursday night to city neighborhoods to protect people and government installations and public services. |