Unidentified arsonists on motorcycles set a string of fires targeting mostly deserted police checkpoints in southern Thailand. The attackers set fire to nearly 40 sites in the provinces of Pattani and Songkhla late Thursday, Police Maj. Gen. Paithoon Pattanasophon said in a telephone interview. Paithoon reported no casualties from the blazes, adding that they caused panic but no major damage. Three government-owned trucks, five houses and at least 30 deserted police checkpoints were set on fire, he said. Many police checkpoints, the prime targets of attacks, were left unattended following a Jan. 4 raid on an army armory by suspected Muslim separatists. The fires were set between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. (1400-1500 GMT) in Pattani and about an hour later in neighboring Songkhla province. No one claimed responsibility for the attacks but police said eyewitnesses told them young men riding motorcycles set fire to the police checkpoints and then sped away.
A prominent lawyer, Somchai Neelahphaiji, who is defending five Muslims accused of participating in the raid and four suspected Thai members of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror network, went missing last Friday from a Bangkok hotel. Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh told reporters Thursday he has been kidnapped by unidentified people but denied state involvement. "The government has to take responsibility for the disappearance of lawyer Somchai,'' said Waedueramae Mamingchi, chairman of the Pattani Islamic Council. "If the government does not give priority to this, the violence will inevitably intensify ... I fear that this matter will sow discontent among the Muslims.'' |