Breaking-News - PINA

10 killed by suspected Patani freedom fighters in the Malay provinces

2009-04-28T11:12:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - Suspected Patani freedom fighters killed ten Collaborators in a flurry of attacks in the ethnic Malay provinces, the Thailand colonial army said Tuesday, the fifth anniversary of a bloody assault by security forces against Patani guerrillas at a mosque.

In the deadliest incident, at least six gunmen in a pickup truck stormed into a house in Jala province late Monday, opening fire on a ethnic Malay family of five, army spokesman Col. Parinya Chaidilok said. Four people were killed.

Parinya says two ethnic rubber plantation workers were later found dead in the compound of a nearby mosque. Thai security officials blamed Patani freedom fighters bent on stirring up communal tension between ethnic Siam and ethnic Malay.

The incidents came ahead of the fifth anniversary of the April 28, 2004, assault on the Krue Se mosque by Thai security forces, in which 32 insurgents were killed.

Other clashes the same day between Ethnic Malay and Thai colonial forces resulted in the deaths of a total of 107 people at the hands of security forces, turning the mosque attack into a symbol of the heavy-handed tactics of Thai colonial.

The killings fueled a nascent insurgency that has claimed more than 3,600 lives in the ethnic Malay provinces of Patani, Jala and Menara and some parts of neighboring Senggora.

In the latest attack, a Buddhist government official was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting Tuesday in Patani, Parinya said. In a separate incident Monday evening, gunmen fatally shot a ethnic who served as a government-hired security volunteer in Jala province.

Another ethnic man was killed in a drive-by shooting in the same province Monday evening.

In another district of Jala province, suspected militants fatally shot a ethnic Siam rubber plantation worker Tuesday.

Insurgent attacks - which include drive-by shootings and bombings - are believed intended to frighten ethnic Siam residents into leaving the area. They also target ethnic Malay who they believe have collaborated with the government, including soldiers, police, informants and collaborators.

The identity and precise goals of the insurgents have never been publicly declared, and responsibility is rarely claimed for attacks. They pursue an ill-defined agenda that sometimes seems to call for an ethnic Malay state separate from ethnic Siam-dominated Thailand, but is mostly a reaction to a history of discrimination.

In the ethnic Malays Malay provinces have long complained of discrimination, especial in educational and job opportunities, in Buddhist-dominated Thailand.

Widow killed by suspected Thai colnial polices

2008-06-17T07:32:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAMA; - A widow was shot dead by suspected Thai colonial polices Malay province Menara Tuesday morning, media here reported.

The widow, a 45-year-old Malay Muslim woman, was on her way from home for work at a rubber plantation when two suspected Thai colonial riding on a motorcycle chased her and opened fire at her in Bachok district, Menara Province at around 6.30 a.m. Tuesday Monday.

The victim had five children to look after.

In the three Malay provinces; Patani Jala dan Menara, have been stricken by Patani Freedom fighters since early 2004,which has killed over 3,300 people in the region. Thai colonial have blamed Patani freedom fighters as the culprit for the violence.

Four kill in The Malay Provinces (South Thailand)

2008-06-05T08:05:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - - A powerful bomb ripped through the annual Thai Red Cross Fair in Jala province on Tuesday evening, killing one and injured four passerby.

The same evening also saw two Malay men and a woman killed when gunmen sprayed their house with gunfire as they were conducting evening prayers.

In Patani, two police officers were critically injured when a roadside bomb went off in Tambon Tanyong Dalor.

The two officers were among six security details for public school teachers in the restive region where more than 3,300 have been died due to daily violence since January 2004.

The two were identified as Pol PFC Laemthong Boochaphan, 35, and Pol Pvt Pathompong Pipatrachai, 33. Both suffered several shrapnel wounds through out their faces and bodies.

Government spokesman Wichianchot Sukchotrat told reporters that the Cabinet has instructed various ministries, including the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre to study what lessons could be learnt from the way Indonesia tackled separatist unrest in its Aceh province.

The cabinet on Tuesday ordered the interior ministry and the southern administrative body "to study the Aceh peace model in order to use information to solve our own southern unrest problem," Wichianchot said.

Aceh proindependence rebels signed a peace pact with the Indonesian government in Helsinki in 2005, giving up their fight for independence in return for broadranging autonomy.

The peace deal ended almost three decades of violence that had claimed more than 15,000 lives.

Patani freedom fighters in south Thailand's Malayspeaking south erupted offandon since the Malay region comes under Thailand's direct rule just over 100 years ago.

This latest wave of violence erupted in late 2001 but the government would not acknowledge that a new generation of insurgents has surfaced in the region until the January 4, 2004 raid on an army battalion in Menara. Patani freedom fighters made off with more than 300 pieces of weapons after killing four soldiers. Scores who were on guard duties and residing in the garrison were released unharmed.

Thai colonial police killed in ambush

2008-03-06T09:57:00.000-08:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - A policeman was killed and two fellow officers critically injured in an ambush in Kota Bharu Raman district of Jala yesterday.

The slain officer was identified as Pol Snr Sgt-Maj Muztaz Sohlem, 48.

The injured officers were Pol Cpl Sathaporn Kaewsikao, 31, and Pol L/C Chaiwat Chaiwee, 23.

Thai colonial Police said the policemen were attacked while they were out gathering intelligence information in the neighbourhood.

The assailants retreated after a 10-minute exchange of gunfire with the officers.

In Menara, nine sacks of urea fertiliser, a key component in bomb-making, were seized in a pre-dawn raid on a village in Tabal district yesterday.

A 200-strong combined force of soldiers, police and local provincial administrators raided more than 50 households in Sri Pa-ngan village and stumbled upon a large quantity of urea fertiliser.

The search followed a bomb blast at a local school in the same district on Tuesday.

Four soldiers in a teachers' escort team were wounded, two of them critically, in the explosion.

After the two-hour operation, the authorities seized nine sacks of urea fertiliser at a house owned by Cek Yusof Haji Baka.

In Patani, two Thai policemen were severely wounded by a bomb at a market in Panarek district yesterday.

Two policemen killed in Jala province

2008-03-05T10:14:00.000-08:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - Suspected Patani freedom fighters have killed two Thai colonial policemen and injured three others in a bombing and a shooting in the Malay Muslims province, Thailand police said Wednesday.

A 40-year-old police sergeant was killed and his 52-year-old colleague seriously wounded when a bomb hidden under a bridge exploded in Pattani province early Wednesday, Thai provincial police said.

In nearby Jala province on Tuesday night, a 48-year-old sergeant was shot dead and two other police officers were wounded when armed Patani freedom fighters ambushed their pick-up truck.

Two Malay civilians -- a man and an elderly woman -- were also seriously injured in separate shootings in Patani on Tuesday.

More than 2,900 people have been killed since unrest broke out in January 2004 in the south, which was an independence sultanate until Thailand annexed it in 1902, provoking decades of tension. - PINA

One killed, dozens injured in bombings in Sungai Golok

2007-12-31T07:34:00.000-08:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - A string of bombs planted by Patani freedom fighters rocked in Sungai Golok Monday, killing one person and injuring dozens near the Malaysian border, Thai colonial polic,said.

Explosives planted at entertainment venues across Sunngai Golok town in Menara province wounded 27 people in the early hours of Monday, two of them seriously.

"It was likely done by Patani freedom fighters who target innocent people during new year," local police chief Colonel Prabphan Meemongkon told AFP.

He said police managed to defuse one bomb at a hotel in the Malay region, where rebels are waging a bloody battle for a separate state, but five devices struck two other hotels nearby.

A Thai colonial police officer in Menara said that explosives had been packed into cigarette packets, which were planted inside a hotel disco. he first blast hit at about 12:40 am Monday, sending people fleeing into a hotel car park, where another bomb was hidden.

Another blast hit a hotel karaoke bar.

Later in nearby Jala province, one person was killed and four were injured when a bomb hidden in a motorcycle exploded outside a restaurant.

More than 2,800 people have been killed in four years of separatist unrest in Thailand's south, an ethnic Malay sultanate until Buddhist Thailand annexed it a century ago, provoking decades of tension.

Monday's attacks come a year after blasts hit the Thai capital Bangkok on New Year's Eve 2006, killing three. No one has yet been charged in connection with those attacks.

Security has been stepped up across Malay provinces over the New Year holiday.

Serangan terhadap guru Siam meningkat

2007-12-29T08:50:00.000-08:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - Satu laporan rasmi berhubung pergolakan di wilayah suku Melayu mendakwa serangan ke atas sekolah dan guru meningkat mendadak tahun ini berbanding tempoh tiga tahun lalu, lapor Bangkok Post semalam.

Sebanyak 150 sekolah dibakar, manakala 20 guru dibunuh dalam pergolakan yang meragut lebih 2,800 nyawa sejak empat tahun lalu.

“Bagi tempoh 1 Januari hingga 27 Disember ini, sejumlah 148 sekolah dibakar - 56 di Patani; Jala (45); Menara (30) dan 17 lain di Sanggora,” kata Ketua Pegawai Daerah terbabit, Karun Sakulpradit.

Seramai 26 petugas pendidikan dibunuh, manakala 22 lain cedera. Ini termasuk 15 lelaki dan enam guru wanita selain lima petugas sekolah lainnya.

“Rekod menunjukkan bilangan guru dan petugas sekolah yang menjadi sasaran, lebih tinggi daripada tahun sebelumnya,” kata Karun.

Kes serangan terbaru berlaku Selasa dan Rabu lalu apabila sekumpulan penyerang disyaki Pejuang Pembebasan Patani, membakar empat sekolah di Patani dan Jala.

Malah, keadaan dilaporkan tegang sehingga memaksa lebih 10 sekolah terpaksa ditutup sementara di Patani kemarin, pada hari sama laporan itu dikeluarkan.

Zakaria Hasan, pemangku guru besar sekolah kampung Mako di daerah Kapho, berkata dia menerima panggilan telefon daripada seorang lelaki yang mengancam mengebom sekolah itu jika tidak menangguhkan sesi persekolahan. - PINA (sember berita dari Agensi)

No progress in checking unrest

2007-12-28T10:13:00.000-08:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - Thailand's restive South witnessed another year of blunder and misguided policy under the direction of an army chief/coup leader who was so tied up with national politics that the insurgency had to be put on the back burner.

The year started off with 10 companies of paramilitary rangers being dispatched to the region in January, followed by another 20 in April. In all, about 3,000 men were dispatched.

Strange as it may seem, these rangers have since been dubbed the "ambassadors" of the Thai State to the Malay-speaking region. In practice, this machine gun-toting bunch, half of them Muslim Malays, half Thai Buddhists, were positioned deep in the pockets of various hot spots, including remote public schools, in the deep South, where more than 2,700 have been killed since January 2007.

By the third quarter, following a number of questionable incidents, the army had decided to retrain these trigger-happy men, but with the emphasis on cultural orientation. While some think it was a move in the right direction, few think it will achieve any meaningful outcome as the problem is deeply rooted in the historical mistrust between the Malays and the Thai state.

The middle of the year saw the army going on the offensive, carrying out blind, sweeping raids on various communities.

Scores of people, at times over 100 at a time, were rounded up during each of the raids. The military came up with a system to measure their vulnerability. If they were deemed to be in the "high-risk" category, they would be sent to a job-training programme in army camps in the upper South.

The military said the move was part of a strategy to weed out the insurgents from the rest of the villagers. They call it "separating the fish from the water", a tactic employed during the height of the communist insurgency.

Besides the job-training scheme, which functioned more like a re-education camp, the army banned nearly 400 local Malay Muslims for six months from residing in the southernmost provinces. They did not have enough evidence to charge them, and denying them entry to their homes was a way of keeping the suspected militants at bay.

These two initiatives were billed as a show of force by the army, but in the third quarter Thai courts ordered the ban lifted and said the army should release the young men from military camps.

For the battered military and its army-installed government, the ongoing raids and the mass arrests, not to mention the "indoctrination" process in the form of job training, were meant to rattle the cages of the insurgents as much as for domestic consumption.

The raids halted roadside bombings in the areas that were being raided, but the end result was a balloon affect: violence and simultaneous attacks on government troops occurred elsewhere in the restive region.

There was some hope during Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont's visit to Yala in May when he claimed to have received "positive feedback" from separatist groups over possible "dialogue".

Patani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo) foreign-affairs chief Kasturi Mahkota said the group welcomed Surayud's statement, calling it a "positive gesture", but like the government's special economic-development zone, which has yet to be drafted by the National Economic and Social Development Board for the Malay-speaking region, nothing seems to have moved forward.

May also witnessed a spate of bombs that rocked Hat Yai, the commercial centre of the South. Unlike the previous attack, these blasts had police pointing their fingers at Malay Muslim insurgents, suggesting a new threshold had been crossed, but as in other high-profile incidents, no decisive conclusion could be reached.

There were high hopes that Surayud would come up with a meaningful platform for the South during his June visit to the region, but unlike on his November 2006 visit, during which he brought tears to the eyes of locals when he made a public apology for the heavy-handed policies of the past, particularly for the deaths of 85 demonstrators at Tak Bai two years before that, it was an opportunity missed. Surayud did not push through a new platform that could have paved the way for the next administration.

Surayud's refusal to push his administration in a more substantial and meaningful direction will take its toll on the upcoming government, which looks likely to be not only weaker but faced with bigger obstacles in pushing through a more meaningful agenda.

Strangely, the Army has billed the past year as one of advance in the right direction. The death count suggests otherwise.
Don Pathan
The Nation

Soldier shot dead, seven wounded in bomb attack in Patani

2007-08-04T00:16:00.000-07:00

PATNI darusalam: - A soldier was shot dead by suspected rebels and at least seven civilians were wounded in a bomb blast at a food stall Saturday in the Malay-majority south, Thai Colonial police said.

The attacks underlined ongoing violence in the region where near daily bombings and shootings have killed more than 2,500 people since the separatist unrest broke out in January 2004.

A 45-year-old army soldier was shot dead by two militants at point blank range Saturday in front of a convenience shop in Patani, one of three violence-torn provinces bordering Malaysia, police said.

In nearby Menara province, a bomb hidden in a motorcycle went off in front of a food stall Saturday, injuring seven people, they said.

Thailand's army-backed government, which came to power following last year's coup in the Buddhist country, has offered a series of olive branches to the militants in a bid to ease violence in the Malay provinces.

But the violence has escalated sharply this year despite the junta's peace initiatives, including an apology to Malays over government abuses, prompting the military to deploy thousands more forces.

13 schools in Patani closed following attack against teachers protection unit

Thirteen schools in Nong Chik and Yaring districts suspended teachings Friday over safety concerns after insurgents attacked a teachers protection unit.

Somnuek Meesaeng, the director of the Patani Education Zone, said 10 schools in Nong Chik district decided to cancel classes temporarily after insurgents fell trees to block the roads in Tambon Tha Kamcham and Tambon Bangkhao following the attack.

He said three schools in Jamu (Yaring9 also decided to close temporarily because teachers worried that they could become targets of insurgents.

Patani guerrillas attacks kill 2, wound 11 in Malay provinces

2007-08-02T04:29:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSAM: - Patani guerrillas ambushed Thai colonial patrolling security forces with guns and bombs in the Malay provinces (south Thailand) on Thursday, killing two and wounding more than 11 in four separate attacks, Thai Colonial police and soldiers said.

They detonated a roadside bomb killing one policeman and wounding five travelling in a pickup truck in Patani, one of the four southern provinces where nearly 2,500 people have been killed in the three-year guerrillas war.

In Menara province, Patani guerrillas ambushed a truck carrying marines back to base after escorting teachers to school, killing one and wounding two.

In Jala, two defence volunteers were wounded by a roadside bomb while travelling in a truck.

Also in Patani, two soldiers were wounded in a bomb attack when escorting Buddhist monks collecting alms.

Security personnel as well as Buddhist monks and government schoolteachers are prime targets of Patani guerrillas in the separatist insurgency which re-emerged in January 2004 in the region, a former Malay sultanate annexed by Thailand about a century ago.

Since last month, security forces have launched almost daily raids on suspected Patani freedom fighters hideouts in villages and towns and have detained more than 400 people without charge.

Human rights groups are critical, saying detainees are exposed to potential abuses by the army, which is operating under martial law that grants soldiers immunity from prosecution.

However, a security analyst and researcher who tracks the violence in the region, said the raids and arrests had cut the number of attacks.

Srisompob Jitpiromsri of Prince of Sanggora University in Patani said the monthly number of violent incidents fell to 147 in July from 247 in June, compared to a range of 110-165 in previous months in 2007.

Srisompob said the spike of incidents in June was attributed to arson attacks on schools seen as a propaganda tool of the largely Buddhist Bangkok government.

"Obviously the crackdown did have a short-term impact on the attacks, but we don't know how long it will last," Srisompob told Reuters by telephone.

By July, the number of people killed in the guerrillas war since January 2004 was 2,493,
Srisompob said.

Since taking office last year after a bloodless coup, new Bangkok regime Surayud Chulanont has fought off pressure from the Buddhist majority to take stronger action in the Malay-speaking region, saying he remains committed to a peaceful resolution.

He has apologised for the harsh policies of ousted predecessor Thaksin Shinawatra and promised restraint in dealing with the violence. But he has had no more success than Thaksin.

4 Die, 7 Civilians Wounded In Gun And Bomb Attacks in Jala provinces

2007-08-01T05:36:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - Four people, including two soldiers, were killed and seven other people were injured Wednesday (August 1st) as suspected Patani guerrillas staged an ambush and set off bombs in Jala province.

ThePatani guerrillas attacked a small patrol guarding a railway in Jala province with gunfire, killing two of the four soldiers.

In guerrillas war, at least three assailants sprayed dozens of bullets into a house in Menara province, killing two men, said Thais Colonial police Lt. Vorapong Klomsakun.

Also Wednesday (August 1st), at least seven people were injured when a bomb exploded near a market in the same province, police said.

Thais Colonial Police said it was one of six bombs that exploded in several areas of the province Wednesday (August 1st) morning.

More than 2,500 people have been killed in the predominantly Malay provinces of Jala, Patani and Menara provinces since early 2004, when a separatist movement flared up after a lull of more than two decades.

Despite these latest attacks, the military says the situation has gradually improved.

"Daily attacks are gradually decreasing after we arrested a few hundred suspects," said Col. Akara Thiprote, the army spokesman.

Nearly 400 young Malay men suspected of involvement with the separatist movement have been arrested and detained during the past few months, Akara said.

Srisompob Chitpiromsri, a political scientist who monitors the situation in the region, also said the violence has been on the decrease recently.- AP

5 soldiers killed in Patani bomb

2007-07-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - Five Thai colonial soldiers were killed when Patani guerrillas detonated a roadside bomb in Patani on Tuesday, police said.

The soldiers were ambushed when they were patrolling on a pick-up in Mayo district shortly before noon.

Thai colonial police said the bomb, hidden near a trash can, was detonated when they were passing by.

The vehicle was partly damaged.They were rushed to Mayo district hospital.

Suspected Patani Guerrillas shot Two border Patrol Police in Menara

2007-06-29T06:45:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - Suspected Patani Guerrillas shot Two Thai Border Patrol police officers severely wounded in Menara on Friday, and are fighting for life now in two hospitals.

Pol.L/C Uaychai Suwanwisut and Pol.Sgt-Maj. Prasit Putdam were ambushed as they returned home after finishing their duties. The two were attacked on a road in Kuala kawi (Sri Sakhon) district.

Shot in the head, L/C Uaychai was airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in Sanggora while the other officer was shot in the shoulder and taken to a local hospital for treatment.

According to the preliminary investigation, an unknown number of assailants armed with assault rifles opened fire at two officers on a motorcycle. They exchanged gunfire for about five minutes before the attackers retreated.

Pegawai Thailand Temui Kumpulan Pejuang Pembebasan Patani Di Kelantan, Lapor Akhbar

2007-06-28T06:56:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - Sebuah akhbar berbahasa Thailand hari ini melaporkan bahawa seorang anggota kumpulan pejuang Pembebasan Patani yang paling dikehendaki oleh penceroboh Thailand, Sapaeing Basoe, sudah mengadakan dua perundingan rahsia dengan wakil kerajaan Thailand di Kelantan.

Akhbar Kom Chad Luek melaporkan pemimpin pergerakan Barisan Revolusi Nasional-Coordinate (BRN-C) itu, bersama seorang lagi anggota utama kumpulan gerakan, Hasan Husin, menghadiri mesyuarat yang dikoordinasi oleh Presiden pergerakan Bersatu, Wan Kadir Che Wan.

Laporan itu menyebut bahawa perundingan yang memang disedari oleh kerajaan Malaysia itu, tidak membuahkan hasil konkrit yang boleh mengakhiri konflik selatan yang memuncak, selepas beberapa tuntutan anggota kumpulan pejuang Pembebasan Patani berkenaan tidak dapat dipenuhi.

Antaranya, kerajaan Thailand tidak dapat menerima tuntutan supaya wilayah Patani, Jala dan Menara yang majoriti didiami suku Malayu Muslim, diberikan kemerdekaan, namun ia bersedia menimbangkan usaha memberikan pengampunan kepada Pejuang Pembewbasan Patani.

Menurut akhbar itu, Sapaeing juga mahukan supaya perundingan berikutnya dihadiri oleh Perdana Menteri Thailand Surayud Chulanont, dengan Perdana Menteri Malaysia Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi menjadi orang tengahnya.

Laporan itu juga mengatakan bahawa kumpulan pejuang Pembebasan Patani itu mahukan supaya perundingan diadakan hanya di Kelantan bagi mengelak laporan media yang terlalu luas.

Bagi perundingan berikutnya, Sapaeing memberitahu bahawa mereka berhasrat menjemput lain-lain pemimpin kumpulan pemisah, termasuk Ustaz Mohamad Abdul Lokman dan Ustaz Abdullah Ismail dari Gerakan Mujahideen Islam Pattani.

Akhbar itu turut melaporkan bahawa Sapaeing berkata keganasan tidak dapat dihentikan sepenuhnya walaupun satu persetujuan dicapai memandangkan ada beberapa kumpulan kecil terbabit dalam konflik itu.

Lebih 2,300 nyawa sudah terkorban dalam keganasan harian di tiga wilayah majoriti Muslim yang bergolak itu, dalam perjuangan kumpulan pemisah menuntut kemerdekaan.-- BERNAMA

Lima mati kena tembak di wilayah suku Melayu

2007-06-17T15:37:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - Penyerang tidak dikenali membunuh sekurang-kurangnya lima orang dalam kejadian tembakan berasingan di wilayah penduduknya suku Melayu, kata polis penceroboh Thailand semalam.

Seorang guru agama berusia 82 tahun mati selepas ditembak ketika menunggang motosikal di Menara, yang dilakukan oleh pihak kelamatan penceroboh Thailand.

Awalnya, seorang Melayu ditembak mati di rumahnya di Menara.

Seorang lagi mangsa juga orang Melayu ditembak dalam kejadian tembakan berkereta malam kemarin juga di wilayah yang sama, juga dilakukan pihak kelamatan Penceroboh Thailand.

Manakala dalam kejadian di Patani, seorang Siam berusia 33 tahun terbunuh ditembak oleh suspek gerila Patani di sebuah kedai kopi malam kemarin.

Seorang lagi orang Melayu berusia 20 tahun dilaporkan ditembak mati di Patani, petang kemarin, juga dilakukan oleh askar penceroboh Thailand, tidak balas atas tujuh askarnya terbunuh kata saksi mata.

Kejadian tembakan terbaru itu berlaku selepas kejadian serang hendap pejuang Patani yang mengakibatkan sekurang-kurangnya tujuh askar maut selepas ditembak kelmarin membabitkan kejadian serangan maut terhadap pasukan keselamatan di wilayah terbabit.

Lebih 2,300 orang terbunuh dan beribu yang lain cedera dalam keganasan berasingan yang tercetus di selatan sejak Januari 2004.

Kekerasan berterusan walaupun usaha mengembalikan keamanan dilakukan rejim Bangkok yang dilantik tentera selepas rampasan kuasa September tahun lalu.

Kekerasan terbaru menyusuli kejadian pembunuhan tujuh askar dalam serangan bom tepi jalan, kelmarin. – AFP

Warga Malaysia mengadakan tunjuk persaan penentang kezaliman Thailand

2007-06-08T04:58:00.000-07:00

KUALA LUMPUR, 8 Jun (Hrkh) - Pengerusi Persidangan Negara Islam (OIC), Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi diselar kelekaannya hingga mengabaikan nasib umat Islam Selatan Thailand yang kini bermandi darah diinjak dan dihina tentera Thailand.

Dalam pada itu beliau yang juga Perdana Menteri Malaysia dikatakan hanya leka mempersiapkan urusan perkahwinannya sahaja sedangkan ribuan umat Islam Thailand telah terkorban sejak konflik Selatan Thailand terjadi, kata Ketua Pemuda PAS, Salahuddin Ayub.

Abdullah hanya sibuk menyiapkan baju pengantin untuk majlis persandingannya di Putrajaya esok (Sabtu 9 Jun 2007), kata Salahuddin.

Beliau berkata demikian sebaik sahaja menyerahkan memorandum bantahan kepada wakil Perdana Menteri Thailand, di Kedutaan Thailand hari ini dalam satu perhimpunan aman anjuran Dewan Pemuda PAS.

Turut serta ialah, Timbalannya, Ustaz Nasruddin Hassan @Tantawi; Setiausaha Pemuda PAS, Ahmad Sabki Yusof; bekas Timbalan Ketua Pemuda PAS yang juga AJK PAS Pusat, Ustaz Idris Ahmad; wakil Gabungan Mahasiswa Islam Semenanjung (Gamis) dan Pertubuhan Pelajar Kebangsaan Islam Malaysia (PKPIM) dan Pengerusi Teras, Azmi Abdul Hamid.

Berucap lanjut mengenai konflik di Selatan Thailand Salahuddin berkata, Pemuda PAS sanggup mengalirkan darah demi mempertahankan nasib umat Islam di Selatan Thailand.
Umat Islam sendiri atas nama persaudaraan Islam pantang dicabar jika saudara mara mereka dihina sedemikian rupa, katanya.

Baginya, Pengerusi OIC yang disifatkan sebagai tidur perlu dikejutkan bagi membela nasib umat Islam lebih-lebih lagi kini umat Islam Selatan Thailand berhadapan dengan lebih 30,000 tentera Thailand yang dihantar General Surrayud Chulanodh untuk memusnahkan populasi Islam di sana.

Agenda ini dilihat seiring dengan agenda negara Barat seperti Amerika Syarikat yang kini dalam misi menghapuskan penganut Islam di merata tempat, katanya.

Sementara itu Ustaz Nasruddin pula berkata, Pemuda PAS membantah sekeras-kerasnya tindakan biadap dan kezaliman yang dilakukan oleh tentera Thailand sejak dari peristiwa berdarah di Tak Bai dan Masjid Kerisek pada tahun 2004.

"Setitis juga darah saudara seIslam kita di Thailand tumpah ke bumi, maka darah kita juga ada sahamnya," tegasnya diikuti dengan laungan takbir dan hancur Thailand.

Bekas Timbalan Ketua Pemuda PAS dalam ucapannya pula berkata, himpunan ini adalah mengambil seruan dari Rasulullah S.A.W yang membawa maksud "Sesiapa yang tidak mengambil tahu urusan saudara Islamnya, maka dia bukan dari kaum kami".

Ustaz Idris berkata, himpunan itu diadakan bagi menunjukkan solidariti umat Islam di Malaysia ke atas nasib malang yang menimpa umat Islam Thailand, dan himpunan yang serupa akan diteruskan sehingga kekejaman tentera Thailand dihentikan.

Wakil Gamis, Zulkhairi Ahmad pula berkata, pada April 2004, lebih 100 nyawa umat Islam melayang sementara di Kerisek pula mereka dibunuh oleh tentera Thailand ketika sedang bersolat Isyak.

Ini menunjukkan siri kekejaman yang dilakukan oleh tentera Thailand yang kini mendapat sokongan General Surrayudh yang tidak berusaha untuk memulihkan keadaan yang semakin tegang di wilayah tersebut.

Kira-kira 200 aktivis dan Pemuda PAS menyertai himpunan aman yang diadakan selepas solat Jumaat di Masjid Tabung Haji, Jalan Tun Razak hari ini.

Himpunan dimulakan oleh Exco Pemuda PAS Pusat, Ustaz Riduan Mohd Noor dengan laungan-laungan takbir serta selawat ke atas Nabi.Seketika selepas memulakan himpunan itu, Ketua Pemuda PAS memimpin gerombolan pemuda membawa kain rentang bertulis mengecam kekejaman tentera Thailand dan kerajaan Thailand pimpinan Surrayudh.

Anggota keselamatan dilihat mundar-mandir bagi mengawal laluan, sementara satu trak FRU dengan sebuah 'water cannon' menanti gerombolan demonstran di hadapan Balai Polis Jalan Tun Razak berhadapan dengan British High Commision.

Bagaimanapun himpunan itu tidak pun mendapat halangan dari pihak berkuasa yang hanya memerhati pergerakan demonstran selain beberapa Pegawai Cawangan Khas (SB) sibuk mencatat sesuatu dan menangkap gambar demonstran.

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Blast in Sebayo, Se3nggora kills 4

2007-05-28T07:08:00.000-07:00

SEBAYO: - A bomb exploded Monday in front of a busy market in the Malay district, of Senggora province , killing four people including two children and wounding about 25, Thailand officials said.

The bombing came a day after at least 13 people were hurt when six bombs exploded Sunday evening in the city of Hat Yai, tourist and commercial hub in the same province.

Those killed at Monday's bombing in Sabayoi district were two women and two girls, 4 and 8.

The bomb, which exploded shortly after 4 p.m., was hidden in a motorcycle parked in front of the market next to a railway station. The motorcycle was destroyed by the blast, and a nearby car was damaged, as were dozens of stalls belonging to fruit and vegetable vendors.

Provincial Gov. Sonthi Thechanon confirmed the initial casualty toll and said officials had been nervous in the wake of the explosion, fearing a second bomb may have been planted there, a common tactic of terrorists seeking to assault security personnel.

Since early 2004, more than 2,200 people have been killed as a result of an Patani guerrillas that has swept over much of the Malay provinces of Patani, Jala, Menara and Senggora the only ones with Malay majorities in Siamese-dominated Thailand.

The violence has occasionally spilled over to neighboring Songkhla, and Sebayo district which borders on Patani and has a Malay majority has been a particular hot spot.

The Patani guerrillas takes advantage of long-standing sentiment among southern Malay Muslims that they are treated like second-class citizens in Siamese Buddhist-dominated Thailand. Attacks on civilians and officials in the area are seen as a move to drive out Buddhists from the area.

Earlier Monday, a senior police official said domestic politics rather than Patani guerrillas may have been behind Sunday evening's bombs in Hat Yai that exploded near two hotels, two pharmacies, a department store and a restaurant.

Scores of Malaysians, Singaporeans and Indonesians spend their weekends in Hat Yai, but police said all the injured were Thai nationals.

Two of the wounded were reported in serious condition.
Last September, six homemade bombs exploded in Hat Yai, killing four people, including the first Westerner to die in the separatist insurgency, though he was apparently not targeted.

In April 2005, there was another spate of bombings in Hat Yai, including one that killed two people at the city's international airport.

At the same time, a department store and a hotel in the province were also bombed, and more than 70 people in all were wounded.

But the police chief of Songkhla province, Maj. Gen. Paithoon Phattanasophon, said politics may have been behind the most recent violence.

"So far we cannot rule out that the attack was linked to insurgents in the three southern provinces, but it is mostly likely linked to a political motive," he said.

"The way they planted the bombs shows the attackers did not mean to kill people but merely wanted to create confusion. The bombs were mostly planted far from where people were gathered in crowds," Paithoon said.

Political tensions have been brewing since the ouster of Bangkok Regime Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless coup last September, with cases of arson and bombings blamed on die-hard followers of the ousted leader.

Authorities have sought to prevent violence Wednesday, when the Constitutional Court rules on whether Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai political party, as well as the opposition Democrat party, should be banned for alleged electoral violations during balloting last year.

30 teachers seek transfer from the Malay provinces

2007-05-27T11:57:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - Thirty Siamese teachers in the three Malay provinces have applied for transfers elsewhere for fear of their safety, even as some schools in one district of this province will be temporarily closed from Monday (May 28), according to a senior regional educator.

Sa-nguan Intararaksa, secretary-general of the Three Malay Provinces Teachers Federation, said that most of the 30 Siamese teachers who had applied for assignment to other posts now live in areas where Malay live as well -- and they are worried about their safety while travelling from their homes to school and back.

He said teachers in four districts of this province are now taking additional precautions after the Federation warned them that Patani gerrillas in the area had stepped up their attacks. The Federation has sought approval from the Ministry of Education to hire more teachers, replacing those who have asked for transfers, Mr. Sa-nguan said.

Some schools in Menara's Jabat (Ruso) district will be temporarily closed from Monday as security officials map a new strategy to deal with the Patani gerrillas actions after several schools were burned last week, he said. Also, many teachers had received letters threatening them with death if they continue teaching.

In order to protect teachers and students' lives, two police officers will be posted at each school high-risk areas of the province.

To date, more than 2,200 people have been killed by Patani guerrillas in the three Malay provinces of Patani, Jala and Menara in renewed violence after Patani guerrillas raided and stole weapons from an army unit in January 2004. - PINA

Patani gerrillas kill, burn Thai policemen in Menara

2007-05-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - Patani guerrillas killed two Thais policemen in a raid on a security checkpost Friday, attacking it with guns and grenades before setting it ablaze with the victims inside, a villege said.

The charred bodies of the two sergeant majors in their mid-20s were found inside the roadside checkpoint.

The Patani guerrillas took the policemen's M16 rifles in the attack shortly before noon.

Three Malay men, including a local government official, were gunned down in separate attacks, police said.

All the attacks were in Menara, one of three Malay Muslim provinces along the border with Malaysia where separatist violence has raged for three years."The violence is escalating.
Patani Guerrillas are growing bold to mount an attack in the middle of the community.

They are trying to show their force," regional police chief Lieutenant General Jettanagorn Napeetapat told reporters after inspecting the site.

More than 2,150 people have died in violence in the southern provinces of Patani, Jala, and Menara since January 2004, and unrest is intensifying despite peace-building moves by the government.

Army-installed Bangkok regime Surayud Chulanont plans to travel Sunday to the region for a one-day visit to meet with local leaders in his latest bid to rein in the violence.

Despite a recent surge in deadly attacks, Surayud insisted Friday that his government would stick to a non-violent policy to resolve the unrest."I reaffirm our policy of reconciliation.

It's not my government's policy to create divisiveness. A good government must build unity," he told reporters.

Surayud said Thailand's junta leader, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin would make a trip to Saudi Arabia next week to bolster support for the government among Muslim nations.

Sonthi, who seized power in a coup last year, is the first Muslim to head the army in this mainly Buddhist kingdom, but his takeover has failed to quell the violence.

The area was an independent sultanate until it was annexed by mainly Buddhist Thailand in 1902. - AFP/PINA

Lima Orang Melayu terbunuh di Jala

2007-05-05T09:57:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - Lima orang Melayu, termasuk dua orang anak, mati dalam serangan terpisah yang diduga dilakukan pihak keamanan penceroboh Thailand, di wilayah yang tengah bergolak, menurut saksi mata, Sabtu.

Suspek pihak keamanan penceroboh Thailand menyerang seorang Melayu yang berusia 45 tahun dan dua orang anaknya, masing-masing berusia 11 dan tujuh tahun, yang sedang menaiki motosikal pada malam Sabtu, di Jala, salah satu dari wilayah yang berbahasa Melayu.

Sementara itu di Jala juga, seorang Melayu berusia 37 tahun, dibacok hingga mati oleh askar Thailand di depan umum di sebuah pasar, malam sabtu, menurut saksi mata.

Polis juga menemukan tubuh seorang lelaki yang tidak dikenali di sebuah sungai di wilayah yang bersempadan dengan Malaysia tersebut.

Menurut keterangan Polis, beberapa ratus wanita dan anak-anak Melayu memblok jalan di Jala, Sabtu dalam aksi `duduk` yang telah berlangsung selama tiga hari terakhir guna menuntut penceroboh Thailand agar membebaskan orang-orang yang diduga sebagai Pejuang Patani.

Sekitar 20 km dari tempat protes tersebut, ratusan orang Siam pendatang juga tunjuk perasaan minta agar orang-orang Melayu tersebut menghentikan protes blok jalan yang mereka lakukan.

Lebih dari 2.100 orang terbunuh sejak kebangkitan masyarakat Melayu Patani melawan Penceroboh Thailand di wilayah penduduk Melayu: Patani, Jala, Menara dan 4 daerah di wilayah Senggora. - AFP/PINA

Malay Muslim man, children killed in Jala province

2007-05-05T04:51:00.000-07:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: - Suspected Thai Soldier shot dead a Malay Muslim man and his two children as they returned home from prayers in the latest attack in the Malay Muslims region.

The 46-year-old man, his son and daughter, aged 7 and 11, were killed on Friday in Jala province, one of three pre-dominantly Malay speaking southern provinces roiled by a three-year Patani freedom movement.

A villagers said the identity of the assailants was not known.The attack came as hundreds of Malay Muslims held a fifth day of protests in Jala demanding the release of 20 people who police said were Patani freedom fighters.

Hundreds of Siamese grant staged counter protests in another part of the province, opposing the release of the detainees, villagers said.Separately, two schools in Jala were burnt down on Friday, the latest to be targeted in a wave of attacks on schools and teachers seen as symbols of the government in faraway Bangkok.

More than 2,100 people have been killed in the conflict over the past three years. - Reters

Jala refugees camp at temple; violence continues

2006-11-12T05:15:00.000-08:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: Nov, 12 - More ethnic Siam Buddhist villagers (Siamese grants from nothern Thailand) have left their homes in two districts of this trouble-plagued Malay Muslims provinces and are now taking temporary shelter at a Buddhist temple in the country's first internally-displaced population due to the southern insurgency, even as fresh violence occurred, Thai colonial police said.

Sunday morning's bloody incident took place at around 11.30 am when two young villagers riding a motorcycle in Bendang Setar district were shot by two gunmen who pursued them on another motorcyle.

Thai Colonial police said both were wounded and sent to a hospital in the district.

Meanwhile, Thira Mintrasak, newly appointed Jala governor, accompanied by the Jala Islamic Committee chairman and the provincial Red Cross officials, visited a Buddhist temple in the provincial seat and offered encouragement to the ethnic Siamese grants who had recently left their homes for fear of being attacked by Patani guerrillas and are now taking shelter at the temple.

Some 200 Siamese grant internally-displaced villagers are now living temporarily at the temple.
Mr. Thira, who officially will take up his post tomorrow, told villagers that he would visit them again and discuss on ways to help ease their suffering. PINA

Man killed in the Malay Muslims provinces southern Thailand

2006-11-12T05:04:00.000-08:00

PATANI DARUSALAM: Nov,12 - A man was killed after gunmen opened fire at a tea shop in The Malay Muslims provinces (southern Thailand) on Sunday.

The attackers are suspected Patani guerrillas. Lieutenant Kuma-aen Sanya said the hooded men fired from motorcycles at the tea shop in Menara province's Jabat (Rue So) district.
A 30-year-old man was killed while sitting at the table with his brother, who was injured in the attack.

In a separate incident, a athnic Siamese villager's home was attacked and burned down.
More than 1,850 people have died in attacks in the Malay provinces (southern Thailand’s) three Malay provinces, Patani, Jala and Menara, since the start of 2004.

The violence comes just days after Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont's visited the south to deliver an apology for Thaksin's hardline approach to the insurgency.

Chulanont promises a place for Islamic Sharia law in the Malay-speaking region and hopes the revival of a once-trusted administrative body will help end the violence. PINA