Separatist Islamic militants in southern Thailand bombed more than 40 police and government targets on Thursday, killing at least two people and wounding 21, police said.
The attacks, using crudely made, small and remote-controlled devices, shattered the relative calm of recent days as mainly Buddhist Thailand united to celebrate King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 60-year reign.
The 30-minute series of blasts rocked the mainly Muslim provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat near the Malaysian border and six security personnel were among the injured, police said.
”Militants are likely to have coordinated the attacks and planned them in advance because the bombs went off between 07.45am and 8.15am [12.45am-1.15am GMT],” said Colonel Sommai Phutthakun, deputy police commander in Narathiwat.
”They wanted to show their power.”
Police had arrested four suspects who were being interrogated, said Lieutenant General Adul Seangsingkaoe, police chief for Thailand’s far south.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra blamed police for failing to prevent the attacks despite having intelligence that separatist militants would strike.
”Authorities knew that there would be attacks today, but they did not pay enough attention, which resulted in the loss of life,” he said.
Thai authorities were in close contact with Malaysian officials, he said.
Interior Minister Kongsak Vantana, meanwhile, said the militants had made the bombs outside Thailand, without specifying the country, adding that ”it’s difficult to find bomb-making materials here”.
”The militants wanted to stage a show of force and signal that they can still mount attacks,” he said on national television. ”The bombs caused minimal losses because they were low-impact bombs.”
The attacks appeared aimed at sending a message to the government rather than to hurt large numbers of people, said one observer, Sunai Phasuk of the group Human Rights Watch.
”Clearly it is a warning to the authorities that militants are capable of carrying out simultaneous, well-coordinated attacks,” he said.
Analyst Francesca Lawe-Davies of the International Crisis Group agreed: ”It’s a show of strength. It’s clearly been perpetrated by separatist groups showing that they are still strong and capable of these coordinated attacks.”
Separatist violence has simmered in the south since Thailand annexed an independent sultanate there a century ago. An insurgency errupted again in early 2004, claiming more than 1 300 lives since.
In Thursday’s attacks 16 blasts in Pattani killed two people in separate explosions and wounded 14 more, two seriously, police said.
In Narathiwat 17 bombs hit, wounding five marines.
And in Yala, eight attacks targeted police posts, nearby tea shops and a border patrol truck, wounding two people including a police officer.
The attacks followed Tuesday’s killings of two Buddhists, a female local government official and a shop owner, in Pattani.
The violence came at the end of lavish celebrations for the king, the world’s longest-reigning monarch who is revered by his people as a source of moral guidance.
More than one million Thais came to hear his address last Friday in which he called for national unity, and mass events were held to honour the monarch across the country including in the south.
But residents of the troubled south have been less happy with the national government, accusing it of Buddhist prejudice and the repression of their language, script and religious practices.
Earlier this month the independent National Reconciliation Commission recommended greater local government participation in the south and said officials should use the Malay language commonly spoken there.
Thaksin said on Thursday he planned to visit the region soon, once foreign royalty who came for the king’s Diamond Jubilee left Thailand.
He rejected claims that his crackdown and heavy-handedness in the south had caused the long-simmering insurgency to flare up.
”The government has to implement two policies — arrest the suspects and reach a better understanding with the local residents,” Thaksin said. – AFP
