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| Southeast Asia |
| Six terrorists killed, trains halted in Thai south |
| 2008-06-23 |
| Security forces killed six suspected Muslim Police said they had found a rifle with telescopic sights and a dozen mobile phones used for detonating bombs. After a relative five month lull, the insurgents -- who have never identified themselves or their aims -- have stepped up operations this month, most notably with Saturday's ambush of a moving train in which a policeman and three rail workers were killed. Last week, a police officer was shot dead and five others were wounded in a nearby ambush. A helicopter flying in to attend to the victims suffered engine trouble and crashed, killing all 10 on board. State Railways of Thailand suspended its services until security for staff and passengers was improved in the Malay-speaking Muslim region, a former sultanate annexed by predominantly Buddhist Bangkok a century ago. "Staff morale has fallen to a new low," southern rail manager Tanongsak Pongprasert told Reuters. "Services will resume only when we are assured of proper security measures." More detail on today's festivities: A joint patrol of more than 20 police and soldiers was ambushed on a road in the Bannang Sata district, 780 kilometres south of Bangkok, sparking a five-minute gunbattle, said Bannang Sata police Colonel Sompien Todsomya. After the attackers fled, government forces pursued and found one insurgent dead about 100 metres from the road, he said. A second clash occurred in the jungle, leaving two insurgents dead, the colonel added. The government troops pursued the insurgents again, leading to a third shootout in the jungle that claimed another four suspected separatists and left four soldiers and police wounded, Sompien said. Meanwhile, in neighbouring Pattani province, suspected |
| Posted by:ryuge |