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Support for Thai terrorists 'now at 10,000'
Defense minister warns that Bangkok's security is threatenedInsurgents in the deep South can draw on the support of an estimated 10,000 young people they have moulded into a "united front", and could threaten the security of Bangkok, Defence Minister Boonrawd Somtas said yesterday. Gen Boonrawd said insurgents previously could count on less than 100 people and he attributed the dramatic increase to long-term neglect of the region. The defence minister was fielding questions at the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) about the bombings in the deep South on Feb 18. He affirmed that students from the South were free to move to Bangkok, and that intelligence units were watching suspected militants believed to have entered the capital. He admitted the authorities in the South still could not bridge the gap between locals and the state, despite considerable resources, including 10,000 soldiers, 10,000 policemen, and another 17,000 people the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC) could call on. "We do not know them. We do not know who is working against us. As long as they mingle with ordinary people, it's difficult to tell them apart," he said. For more than 10 years, the insurgents had been selecting young people for training. The new recruits were taken when they were about 12 years old, he added. Pranai Suwannarath, head of the SBPAC, was among the first to attribute the Feb 18 explosions to young people. The SBPAC has been trying to access remote villages since it resumed operations on Jan 1. In the South, sources said the Fourth Army was trying to build bridges with religious leaders in particular in a bid to form its own "united front". The army was also working with defectors to shore up knowledge about the insurgents' networks, operational methods and structure. But he said the army had so far only learned about low-level supporters, such as those who attempt to hinder authorities by laying spikes and other obstructions. "So far we have not been able to reach the leadership and their thinking. So prevention is difficult. We learn only that there will be an attack but not where or how," a source said. Defectors do not tell all because they have sworn an oath of secrecy, he added. At the NLA, Lt-Gen Waipot Srinual, commander of the National Intelligence Agency, slammed the government's failure to curb the violence that was demoralising operational officers and local people. At the same time, he said the gap between state authorities and local people was being perpetuated by instigators working to widen the divide. They formed a "third group" in the region, besides people who are for and against violence, he said. Prime Minister Surayud yesterday admitted that the government had done little to curb the violence in the South over the past four months. Local cooperation was key to stamping out the insurgency and help would be sought from Malaysia to turn the situation around, he said. Any idea of making the troubled region a special administrative area should be taken up by the next government, he added. Posted by: ryuge 2007-02-23 |
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