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| Southeast Asia |
| Buddhist vigilantes suspected in Thai raids |
| 2007-09-07 |
| The black-uniformed raiders roared into this Thai Muslim village, firing assault rifles and hurling grenades from a pickup truck at a group of teenagers relaxing near the mosque. When the attack was over, five of the youths lay dead. As they have done in the past, authorities initially said the killers were Muslim insurgents terrorizing their own people in their separatist war against the Buddhist-dominated central government. But then the official line on the village raid changed, with senior military commanders shifting suspicion to Buddhist vigilantes and heightening fears that the four-year-old conflict in Thailand's southern Muslim provinces is entering an ominous new phase. Mohammed Kadir, a local government leader in Kolomudo, told the Associated Press that he doubted the raiders were Muslim insurgents disguised in military garb — as authorities claimed in other cases. He instead thought they could have been Buddhist vigilantes in official-looking uniforms or security forces, which long have been accused of torturing and secretly killing insurgent suspects. Three days before the May 31 raid, a bomb in a nearby market killed four Buddhists, including two children. No formal charges have been lodged. Mr. Kadir and police Capt. Somchai Chuaybamrung gave similar accounts of the Kolomudo assault. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #8 It's gotta be pretty damn bad when the Buddhists start whacking people. I guess they got tired of having their daughters' throats slit on the way to the (blowed up, burned out) school, huh? |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-09-07 14:24 |
| #7 When the Columbian government was seen as ineffective, compromised, or otherwise disinterested in the consequences of FARC, it generated a similar response. It's why most countries would rather see their own population sacrificed to the thugs, murderers and terrorists, than acknowledge the right of the people to bear arms. The enemy at least, even by its destructive actions, acknowledges the authority of the state. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-09-07 13:28 |
| #6 "We don't shoot innocent Muslims." That doesn't exactly reduce the target pool very much. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-09-07 12:24 |
| #5 Gen. Phitak said trained members return to their villages to set up patrols>>... |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-09-07 12:13 |
| #4 The gubmint is run by a Muzzi, wxjames. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-09-07 11:05 |
| #3 The terrorism has been escalating for 4 years now and the gubmint sits on its hands. Why be surprised when the Buddhists start vigilante groups ? The Buddhists get it. I'm waiting for the European Christians to get it. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2007-09-07 10:51 |
| #2 Wow. Classic Associated Press... firing assault rifles and hurling grenades from a pickup truck at a group of teenagers relaxing near the mosque. with senior military commanders shifting suspicion to Buddhist vigilantes and heightening fears that the four-year-old conflict in Thailand's southern Muslim provinces is entering an ominous new phase. Buddhist vigilantes in official-looking uniforms or security forces, which long have been accused of torturing and secretly killing insurgent suspects. But in several recent cases of violence against Muslims, suspicion has fallen on shadowy Buddhist vigilante groups. The stated purpose was self-defense, but the result is a region awash with guns and mounting accusations that Thais United, virtually unknown to the Thai public and mentioned only vaguely in the local press, has become a death squad. Shinnawat, the military commander, said the government will play into the insurgents' hands if it sponsors revenge killings. "If a civil war breaks out, the military will have to use force to stop it and a lot of people will die," he said. "The insurgents will say that the Thai government's hands are full of blood and it has no right to govern the Muslims. Then, it will be justifiable to call for U.N. intervention." So don't fight back, folks. Continue to roll over and die. It appears that's the AP angle to the story... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-09-07 09:22 |
| #1 "We don't shoot innocent Muslims. We only shoot insurgents," he said. "They deserve to be killed." heh. works for me |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-09-07 08:34 |