Thailand on Tuesday vowed to pursue its offensive against Islamic militants as two bombs rocked provincial government buildings in the country’s south following a night of deadly gun attacks.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who had just returned from the strife-torn region, told reporters he is happy with the government response to the latest unrest and vowed further crackdowns.
”Absolutely, I am satisfied with the incidents last night,” Thaksin said. ”Many were arrested. We have to continue our work. Next time, it’s our turn to be more offensive.”
Two bombs rocked Yala province early on Tuesday, slightly wounding a government official. The explosives, which were placed under cars, hit a Yala provincial education office and a car park behind a provincial hall.
Later on Tuesday, a 40-year-old Muslim, Maromlee Salae, was shot dead by suspected militants in Patae village, Yala province, police added.
Those attacks came after 14 coordinated attacks overnight in Yala left five people dead, including two militants, in Yala and Pattani provinces.
One of the slain militants, Asumi Jarong, was wanted in connection with the unrest, and had a one million baht ($243 000) bounty on his head, southern army commander Lieutenant General Kwanchart Klaharn told reporters.
Seventeen people have been arrested in connection with the overnight raids, he added.
Also during the night, the MD of the local Thongtin Thai newspaper was shot dead in Narathiwat province, police said.
Abdulloh Mama (37) was shot five times in the town of Sungai Kolok by gunmen who had followed him in a pick-up truck. He was pronounced dead in hospital a short time later.
”Police have established two possible motives for the killing. Either it was a personal conflict or part of the unrest,” police Colonel Somsak Rommayanon said.
The attacks came just hours after Thaksin left the region.
He had visited the provincial capital of Narathiwat on Monday to officiate at Buddhist ceremonies, and vowed to boost security for monks by installing a system of sirens in the region.
Thaksin said on Tuesday that security authorities had been able to respond quickly to Monday’s attacks thanks to tip-offs from local villagers.
”Yes, in some attacks, officials learned beforehand from the villagers, who cooperated well with the government,” the premier said, adding that the government will issue more arrest warrants for suspected militants.
Thaksin also argued that the militants have shifted their goal from winning a separate province to pushing him out of office.
”Based on the people who have listened to a recent meeting of extremists in Kelantan [in Malaysia], they only criticised me,” he said. ”So they have shifted their goal from carrying out separatist movements to attacking me.”
Violence in the three Muslim-majority provinces of mainly Buddhist Thailand has killed more than 1 000 people since January last year.
Authorities variously blame the almost daily attacks in Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces on Islamic separatist militants, organised criminals or local corruption. — Sapa-AFP