Separatist violence flares up again in the south
Bangkok (AsiaNews/Agencies) In the night between last Saturday and Sunday three bombs exploded in Yala, a town in a predominantly Muslim area in the southern-most part of Thailand. The blasts wounded 11 people causing damage to a bar and two hotels.
According to Yala's police chef Prinya Kwanyuen, "the bombs did not kill anyone and all injured people have left the hospital." Never the less, he added, "there is no doubt these were linked to the recent spate of violence."
A new wave of violence did erupt in January in the southern provinces. Local separatists want to secede from Thailand and set up an independent Islamic state. So far the violence has been responsible for the death of about 300 people.
Quoting the Defence minister state-run Thai News Agency claimed these attacks were the work of militants who wanted to retaliate for the recent arrest of some of their comrades. Two Muslim religious teachers were in fact arrested in nearby Pattani province last week on suspicion of involvement in mostly arson attacks on government property, police said.
Yala provincial governor Boonyasit Suwannarat said that security forces had received intelligence reports warning of pending attacks against tourist sites. "The militants," he said ahead of a meeting with hotel and restaurant operators, "are trying to wreak havoc and undermine our efforts to restore peace and bring back a normal way of life here."
Bombs, hit and run attacks against symbols of the largely Buddhist central government have become daily occurrences since January in a repeat of the low-intensity separatist insurgency that plagued the region in the 1970s and 1980s.
Buddhists make up around 94.8% of Thailand's population. Muslims represent about 4% whilst Christians are just 0.6%. (DS)
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