Mosque bombed in the South: 16 wounded
This time a Muslim place of worship is targeted by unrest; authorities say the aim is to provoke religious tensions: “They want to frighten moderate Muslims who are willing to collaborate with authorities to stop the violence”.
Bangkok (AsiaNews/Agencies) – A Muslim Mosque was the latest in a series of targets attacked by rebels in Southern Thailand, who have been waging a campaign of violence primarily against the areas Buddhist community, for the last three years. At least 16 people were seriously wounded in the attack carried out by militants against a Mosque in Yala province.
According to police reports, a command group rushed the place of worship throwing the bomb among over 100 people gathered for morning prayers. A curfew is still in place in Yala after a bomb attack on a bus killed 8 Buddhist passengers, including two women last month. The attackers spared the driver who was Muslim.
The Mosque attacked this morning lies close to four schools, burned by the rebels last night, without provoking victims. The police are excluding that today’s bombing of the Mosque was a reprisal attack by Buddhists. They suspect Islamic militants are responsible for the explosions and maintain the rebels aim is to ferment religious tensions between the Muslim and Buddhist communities in the area. Army spokesman Col Akara Thiprot said “The insurgents wanted to scare away Muslims who may want to co-operate with authorities in quelling violence”.
The Southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, are majority Muslim. Since 2004 the region has been marked by violence of this nature, which so far has claimed over 1300 lives. Organised crime and corruption have also contributed to the worsening of the situation in the region, where Islamic extremists are demanding independence from the rest of the majority Muslim nation.
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