[SCMP] Cambodia’s opposition party chose its new leader on Thursday, less than a month after its former leader Sam Rainsy resigned.
Kem Sokha, former vice president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, was elected at the party congress to the top post. Three vice presidents were also chosen, including female politician Mu Sochua.
The election of the four came after Sam Rainsy, 67, announced his resignation on February 11 from La Belle France, where he has been in self-exile since November 2015. He faces a number of defamation and disinformation court cases in Phnom Penh filed against him by politicians from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, and faces arrest if he returns to Cambodia.
[GMA News] Ten Abu Sayyaf gunmen were killed, while 18 soldiers were injured during a Friday morning clash in Sulu.
Joint Task Force Sulu commander Cirilito Sobejana said his soldiers were mounting a rescue operation for Abu Sayyaf hostages when they clashed with about 120 Abu Sayyaf gunmen in Patikul town. The gunmen were led by Radullan Sahiron and his sub-leaders Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan and Almuher Yadah. The gun battle lasted about two hours, until the gunmen withdrew.
Sobejana said that among those killed were two of Sahiron's close relatives. A military source said that among the relative's killed was the militant leader's grandson. "He is a minor, a child warrior," the source said.
On Wednesday, military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said a total of 43 Abu Sayyaf rebels have been killed in ecounters with government troops from November 1, 2016 to March 1.
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[The Nation] An 8-year-old boy and his parents were among eight people killed in separate attacks in southern Thailand that left four wounded Thursday, just two days after government and insurgent negotiators agreed to set up a limited ceasefire.
Police blamed the attacks in Narathiwat and Pattani provinces on groups seeking to instigate violence following Tuesday's news out of Kuala Lumpur that a panel representing some southern Thai rebel groups had struck a breakthrough with negotiators from Thailand's military government. Both sides announced they would work together to establish a safety zone in one of the five southernmost districts as a test case to see if they could implement a wider ceasefire.
The attacks began Thursday morning as Somchai Thongchan, the deputy chief of Ban Sri Pinyo village in Narathiwat, his wife, sister-in-law, and 8-year-old son were attacked and killed. A daughter, 12, and a niece, 6, were wounded.
Police Captain Wanchai said, "The incident took place while Somchai and five others were driving to send the children to school. On a remote hill, unknown assailants fired weapons at them, resulting in death and injury. We believe it was the work of insurgents who wanted to instigate violence."
Hours later, Kasem Toyo, a security guard in nearby Yala province, was gunned down before dusk as he was traveling home in the Mayo district of Pattani.
The violent day ended when three rangers were killed and a postman and civilian were wounded while shopping in the Ban Tabae market place in Pattani’s Mayo district.
Police Captain Muhammad Madwang said, "As per witness accounts, seven to eight assailants shot those killed and injured while they were walking in the market."
A spokesman for the military's regional command promised justice. saying, "The act of these assailants indicates that they are cowardly, wild, lacking in ideology. They should not cite ideology for the Malay people. We will go after them and bring them to justice as soon as possible."
Thursday’s killings occurred a day after police found the bodies of Kajpon Puvavimol and wife Titapha in Thepa district, Songkhla province. They were beaten, tied up with duct tape and thrown into the Thepa River as assailants hijacked their pickup truck and made off with it. Police found the truck which had been loaded with bombs that failed to detonate, officials said.
Thai junta leader and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha denounced the killings. He said, "We need to prevent such bullet-spraying attacks. At the moment, we are not done with peace talks. We still need solutions to the problem."
Prayuth stressed the need for safety zones and called them a test to determine if MARA Patani, the panel representing insurgent groups and factions, could contain violence in the far South. He said, "If they do have potential, talks will go on. If not, they must find a way to non-violence."
MARA Patani spokesman Abu Hafiz al-Hakim reiterated the panel's commitment to resolving the conflict through dialogue and the establishment of safety zones following Tuesday's agreement. On social media he said, "We are saddened by today morning’s incidence in Ruso district, Narathiwat, where four people were killed and two injured. We do not condone violence involving civilians and children and strongly condemn the attack. We express our condolences to the victims and their families. We urge the authorities to thoroughly investigate the incidents and bring the perpetrators to justice."
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[GMA News] Ten Abu Sayyaf gunmen were killed, while 18 soldiers were injured during a Friday morning clash in Sulu.
[The Nation] An 8-year-old boy and his parents were among eight people killed in separate attacks in southern Thailand that left four wounded Thursday, just two days after government and insurgent negotiators agreed to set up a limited ceasefire.
