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| Southeast Asia |
| Martial law for attack zone in Thailand |
| 2004-01-05 |
| Thailand’s Prime Minister has harshly criticised security forces for failing to stop a string of weekend attacks in the country’s Muslim south. Thaksin Shinawatra said the four soldiers slain by suspected Islamic militants "deserved to die" for their negligence. Well, that’s a little harsh. The Government imposed martial law and an emergency in Narathiwat province following the daring attacks early on Sunday. The measures allow curfews and emergency detentions. In almost simultaneous night-time raids, unidentified assailants set fire to 21 schools and stormed the armory in a military camp in Narathiwat province, killing the four soldiers and stealing more than 100 weapons. Mr Thaksin blamed the attacks on Mujahideen, one of three Muslim groups accused of carrying on a low-level separatist campaign for decades in the Muslim-dominated south. That would be my guess. It was a rare admission of separatist trouble in the four Muslim-majority provinces in Thailand, which is predominantly Buddhist. Mr Thaksin said the raiders expected to sell the weapons to allied groups outside the country, and decried the lack of co-ordination between army and police units. I expect them to keep the weapons, or give them to allied groups in Thailand. "The security forces knew about the bandits looking for a big lot of weapons," he said. "But still they were negligent. They deserved to die." |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 Look no further than Thailand's neighbor to the south if you want to know where this is originating from. The "original" rebels quit a long time ago. These are imported Islamofascists, courtesy of the Malay mutton-heads. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2004-1-5 11:11:53 AM |