A man wanted over the killing of two Thai marines died in a gunfight during a bloody night that claimed five more lives in Thailand's Muslim-majority south, police said Saturday. The suspected terrorist insurgent, Alinsan Nikaji, was killed after 100 police and soldiers sealed off the village of Tanyong Limo as they searched for a militant hideout, police said. A 20-minute gunfight broke out after they found four suspected jihadis rebels inside a home in the village. Alinsan, 25, was killed during the battle.
Thai authorities had a 1,000,000 baht (30,300 dollar) reward out for his arrest over his role in a dramatic hostage-taking that ended in the beating deaths of two marines in this village in 2005. Two other men, each with 500,000 baht rewards on their heads, were also arrested, police said.
The hostage crisis in Tanyong Limo was one of the most dramatic incidents in the four-year insurgency that has claimed more than 3,300 lives in Thailand's southernmost provinces. Hundreds of veiled women and young children faced down heavily armed soldiers for 18 hours, while militants held two Thai marines hostage inside the village's mosque. The women only allowed the soldiers to enter the village after the marines had been beaten to death and the hostage takers had escaped.
The latest raid on Tanyong Limo came during a bloody night of attacks across the southern region, along the Malaysian border. Two Muslim construction workers, aged 24 and 29, were shot dead late Friday in an ambush in Songkhla province, while a 50-year-old Buddhist woman was killed in a drive-by shooting in nearby Yala, police said. A 48-year-old Muslim man was gunned down late Friday inside his home in Narathiwat province, while a 23-year-old Muslim rubber tapper was shot dead in the same province early Saturday.
I posted this story yesterday but somehow it seems to have disappeared during the day (I know it was there; I even checked the link). Somehow it seems to have disappeared, leaving a very unusual blank spot with some funny comments. If this one disappears today, I'll know that dark, sinister forces are causing wheels within wheels to prevent the fair citizens of Rantburg from hearing about this - and will act accordingly. ;-) |