Thailand plans special agency to pursue insurgents in volatile south
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-28 09:57

Thailand will set up a special agency to pursue insurgents in the country's volatile south, the prime minister said, as he vowed that attackers who raided 60 targets, killing seven people and stealing a cache of weapons, would be caught.

The raids represented one of the biggest shows of strength by Islamic separatist guerrillas who in January last year launched an insurrection that has cost more than 1,100 lives in the southernmost, Muslim-dominated provinces of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani.

Three of the seven villagers killed in the raids, carried out over two hours late Wednesday, were village headmen, Lt. Gen. Khwanchat Klaharn, the top security official in the region, told reporters Thursday.

Many of the 90 stolen weapons were shotguns that the government gave to villages last year for self-defense. The weapons are often kept by the village headman.

Provincial authorities have offered rewards of 20,000 baht (US$490; euro400) for the return of any weapons.

One suspected raider has been arrested, Khwanchat said, identifying him as Irafin Bue-nae, a student at an Islamic boarding school. He gave no further details.

Thaksin, speaking at his weekly press conference Thursday, said the attacks involved "large-scale coordination," and vowed that the authorities will arrest "many more" militants.

He also said the government will set up a special agency to pursue insurgents and that he had instructed officials to take a more "proactive" approach in quelling the rebellion.

Aware of criticism that security forces have made the situation in the south worse by using heavy-handed tactics, he said the authorities would act with "restraint and patience."

In the latest act of defiance, four bombs exploded on a railway line in Narathiwat province's Sungai Padi district on Thursday afternoon, derailing four cars and injuring one passenger, said police Capt. Netiwut Dikaew.

Most of Thailand's 65 million people are Buddhists, but as many as 10 percent are Muslims who live mostly in the three southernmost provinces. They have long complained of discrimination, and rebellions have flared up from time to time over the past century.

Meanwhile, authorities said they arrested four more people in connection with the slayings of a Buddhist monk and two boys in Pattani province.

On October 16, insurgents attacked a Buddhist temple, killing the 76-year-old monk and two young helpers.

Authorities have since launched several raids resulting in the arrest of 18 people over the incident, said police Lt. Col. Narunart Suwanlapa of Pattani. The latest arrests were of four unidentified men who are accused of taking part in the killings, Narunart said.