 Combined forces of more than 600 security forces Thursday swooped on some 60 targets in five districts in this southernmost province [Narathiwat]. At least nine people were detained from the massive mopup operation, sweeping through highly contested areas where clashes between security forces and terrorists insurgents take place almost on a daily basis. Two of the arrested were suspects with arrest warrants. Three were taken for possessing marijuana, three for further questioning and one held under the controversial martial law.
Government forces launched similar offensive in June last year, simultaneously locking down various pockets. Several hundreds suspected of having tendency to join the jihad insurgency were detained and sent to "job training" programmes in army camps in the upper south. Detainees and officials said the label was a cover for an indoctrination process aimed at heightening a sense of nationalism for the Malay Muslims. The Thai court intervened and ordered the army to release the detained on the ground that these individuals could not be forced to take part in the job training scheme. |