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| Southeast Asia |
| Violence continues in southern Thailand as parliament debates whether it's "terrorism" |
| 2008-02-21 |
| Former army commander Chettha Thanajaro called on Tuesday for a carrot-and-stick approach to southern insurgents, who he said have developed into terrorists. A report showed violence has again escalated, and the death toll in five years is almost 3,000. He told parliament that the southern insurgents have become full-fledged terrorists, and urged that the Fourth Army be given full authority to handle the problem. The Fourth Army needs more forces to step up patrols in order to apply pressure on target areas, he said. The government must accept that the southern unrest has developed into terrorism. Once you're done convincing the government, you can start working on the press. At the same time, he called on the government to guarantee pardons for those who had joined the On Tuesday, Army chief Gen Anupong Paojinda visited the Internal Security Operations Command Region 4's forward command in Pattani province, as well as the the Southern Border Provinces Administration Center in neighbouring Yala. He made no comment after his tour on whether he considered that the southern violence had turned into a terrorism conflict, but he ordered faster integration of agencies involved in the fight. Meanwhile, a report from the Issara News Centre based in Songkhla province said that the number of deaths attributed to the insurgents stood at 2,941 since the separatist rebellion flared into violence again in January, 2004. That works out to an average of 72 deaths per month, but does not reflect the true, escalating nature of the southern violence, which currently has a higher death rate than any province in the Iraq war. In the first 15 days of February, 25 people were killed and 39 wounded in 43 violent incidents, the news agency reported. Most of the killings in recent days have been drive-by shootings or assassination-type murders apparently aimed at intimidating people even tempted to support government forces. That was a main factor in Gen Chettha's decision to label the southern gangs as "terrorists." Most of the victims this year have been Muslims, and a majority of the nearly 3,000 killed since the As if there were anything unusual about that. In Yala province today, shocked authorities ordered the Ban Sa-ae school in Krong Pinang sub-district closed for three days, after southern And: A village head and two villagers were severely injured when two |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #1 Here let me help: Most of the killings in recent days have been drive-by shootings or assassination-type murders apparently aimed at intimidating people even tempted to support government forces. Terrorism In Yala province today, shocked authorities ordered the Ban Sa-ae school in Krong Pinang sub-district closed for three days, after southern terrorists gang members on Tuesday exploded a bomb and fired their weapons near the facility, frightening the children. Squad of Invading Infantry So both. Use 2 sticks and no carrots. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2008-02-21 12:06 |