Snipped from a larger article.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said three people suspected of involvement in the raid were arrested, but Defense Minister Thammarak Issarangkura na Ayudhaya later told reporters they were only taken in for questioning. Thaksin said insurgents with dual Thai-Malaysian citizenship were responsible for a string of attacks since Sunday in which 21 schools were razed and six police and soldiers killed. ``They are not international terrorists,’’ Thaksin said. ``They are terrorists who operate in these areas ... commuting between Thailand and Malaysia.’’
| What's the Thai word for "ostrich"? I forget... |
But attacks in the area over the past two years have killed more than 56 police and soldiers.
That’s about the same time that Malaysia started cracking down on the KMM. Think there could be a connection?
Police Maj. Thani Twibsi said in a telephone interview that the attackers responsible for Wednesday’s raid on the police station were armed with M-79 grenade launchers and other heavy weapons. Police fired back at the assailants, who fled after a 10-minute gunbattle. ``On our side there is no casualty, no injury, because we were on full alert,’’ Thani said from Yala, about 1,050 kilometres (650 miles) south of Bangkok. The government has acknowledged that the attacks could be the handiwork of Islamic insurgents, after previously dismissing the violence as banditry.
| Bandits. Right. They got turned around and thought it was Northfield, Minn... |
Thaksin said Tuesday that separatist ideology has died down, but that ``some extremists still remain.’’ Thailand has largely escaped the terrorism sweeping parts of Asia. But the arrest of suspected terrorist mastermind Hambali in Thailand in August raised fears that his Jemaah Islamiyah group was plotting attacks in the country. Thaksin said the southern insurgents were not linked to Hambali.
| "No, no! He's in jug! How could they possibly be linked to him?" |
``Actually there are two or three terrorists who used to be religious teachers here. They have been commuting between Thailand, Malaysia and sometimes to Indonesia,’’ Thaksin said, without elaborating.
| Gee. Golly. They only share a travel pattern with JI... |
Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai flew on Tuesday to Malaysia, where he was assured of cooperation in hunting down the assailants if they crossed the border.
| "Yeah. Sure. We'll get right on it." |
Thaksin said the recent attacks were carried out with the cooperation of people in the area, including bandits, criminals, drug addicts and armed smuggling gangs. Hundreds of well-equipped soldiers have been deployed across southern Thailand. The army has imposed martial law - which allows detention and searches without court warrants - in 22 districts of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala. A furious Thaksin lashed out on Tuesday at provincial officials, police officers and army commanders for failing to anticipate the attacks, and branded them lax and inefficient. He gave them five days to set their house in order or face dismissals. |