|
Muslim Insurgency Threat Facing Thailand
| It's almost like they read Rantburg. |
Two bombs exploded today near a tea shop and wounded 20 people in southern Thailand, police said, as violence continued unabated in the Muslim-majority region where residents are seething over the deaths of 78 detainees while in military custody.
| No word on whether they're also making faces and rolling their eyes. |
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was scheduled to explain the situation in the south in a televised address today. His government has come under severe criticism for its handling of the growing violence, with some fearing a full-blown Islamic insurgency is in the making. The 78 Muslim detainees suffocated or were crushed to death Monday when security forces jammed them into military trucks after a protest in Narathiwat province turned violent. At least seven others died during the demonstration, apparently shot by security forces. The first explosion today took place as morning customers crowded tea shops. It was planted at the foot of tree in the provincial capital of Yala, 745 miles south of the Thai capital Bangkok. Police and hospital officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the wounded included two police sergeants. Shortly after, while a bomb squad was clearing the area, a second explosion injured about 10 people, most of them policemen, reporters at the scene said. No other details were immediately available.
The latest incidents in the violence-plagued south followed a bomb explosion in the neighbouring province of Narathiwat Thursday night, which killed a Malaysian tourist and a Thai women, said Police Col. Phol Vatcharanon. At least 20 people, including three Malaysian tourists, were injured in the blast at Sungai Kolok. Sungai Kolok is known for prostitution and smuggling, and is a popular destination for male tourists from across the border in Malaysia. No one has claimed responsibility for the three attacks and no arrests have been made.
Posted by: Steve White 2004-10-29 |
