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Essay on Fighting In Thailand
Hidden a few kilometers down a remote country lane in the heart of Thailand's troubled deep south, where a Muslim separatist uprising has so far this year left more than 200 dead, is the brand new, multimillion-dollar new campus of Yala Islamic College. With more than a dozen Arab teachers from across the Middle East and a seemingly endless flow of funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, the college has become the most obvious manifestation of a non-violent Arab threat to the traditionally moderate and tolerant Islamic traditions of southern Thailand (and the wider South-east Asian region).
In the wake of the most recent fighting in southern Thailand between security forces and suspected Islamic militants, JTIC examines the strategy and objectives of the insurgents and the potentially widening threat they pose to Thai security.
The latest eruption of violence in southern Thailand and the high insurgent death toll appear likely to push the Malaysian border provinces into an escalating insurgency, and may significantly raise the probability of terrorist attacks in urban centers, according to local analysts.
Coordinated dawn assaults on 28 April by Islamic militants, which struck at 12 police stations, check-points and district offices in the three provinces of Pattani, Yala and Songkhla, turned into a slaughter. According to official figures, 108 militants were killed in the fighting and 23 captured.
The security forces lost five dead - three policemen and two soldiers - and 19 wounded. Insurgent losses were heavy in both Sabayoi district of Songkhla where 19 attackers were gunned down and in Krong Pinang sub-district of Yala where 16 died. But the highest toll was in Pattani where 32 insurgents were surrounded and killed after retreating into the historic Krue Se mosque on the outskirts of Pattani town.
The striking disparity in government and insurgent....
