| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| Thai security kill 6 rebels |
| 2009-11-18 |
| SECURITY forces in Thailand's restive south killed six suspected Muslim insurgents on Tuesday in a gunbattle, police said. The clash came after dozens of police and soldiers surrounded a house in Pattani province's Kok Poh district on a tip-off about the whereabouts of suspected militants, said Maj. Gen. Pichet Pitisetpan. 'They did not turn themselves in and instead opened fire from inside the house on the officers, so the security forces had to fire back,' he said, adding that two soldiers were wounded. The insurgency in Thailand's three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat has killed more than 3,600 people, both Buddhists and Muslims, since early 2004. The troubled region bordering Malaysia, only a few hours by car from some of Thailand's best-known tourist beaches, has seen an upsurge in violence as ethnic Malay Muslims fight for autonomy from Thailand's Buddhist majority. A massive counter-insurgency effort occassionally slows the pace of attacks but has shown little sign of ending the violence. The daily attacks, which include drive-by shootings and bombings, are believed intended to frighten Buddhist residents into leaving the only predominantly Muslim areas of Thailand. |
| Posted by:Fred |