Bombs in Thailand

In case you've forgotten Thailand is under attack in the South from Islamic Nutbars...

Triple blast

Three bombs apparently set on motorcycles by southern insurgents killed a woman and wounded at least 71 passersby in Sukhirin district of Narathiwat on Tuesday, police said.

Police said the first two bombs went off almost together around 11:15am on the edge of a parking lot near the entrance to the district office, where village leaders from the area were holding an outdoor meeting.

The third went off a few minutes later near a tea shop.

Wounded people were rushed to Sukhirin and Sungai Kolok hospitals. Mobile phone access to the area was cut to try to prevent more explosions, adding to the chaos.

Initial reports by hospital officials said a woman was killed in one of the blasts. At least 30 of the 71 wounded were taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Military officials said they had received reports of a bomb and explosives disposal teams tried to rush to the scene.

"But as they were closing the area, the bomb exploded and many bystanders were also injured," said an officer.

The bombs were the latest incidents in a sudden upsurge of violence as students returned to school after the autumn harvest break.

An army spokesman said security personnel also found a 5kg bomb in next-door Rueso district, also in Narathiwat, but it did not explode. On Monday, a roadside bomb targeting soldiers escorting teachers exploded but there was no casualty.

Last week, Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat visited the South and commented that troubles in the region appeared to have eased.

On Monday night a 47-year-old religious teacher was shot dead in Narathiwat province, while a 41-year-old man was killed laterthe same night in a similar attack in nearby Pattani province, police said.

Restive Duffy and Arrests

Restive! Restive! Annexed! Restive!

Thai troops kill 5, arrest 19 in Muslim south

Thai security forces killed five suspected Muslim militants and arrested 19 men and women after a brief clash in Thailand's rebellious far south on Monday, an army spokesman said. Police and soldiers also found three rifles and a pistol in a Muslim village in Songkhla province, one of four provinces where more than 2,500 people have been killed in the three-year insurgency, Colonel Acra Tiproch said. "They came to threaten people in the village not to cooperate with the authorities and we clashed with them," he said.

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

Wrong. Conquered BACK by the Siamese in about 1743 during their war of independence from Burma. Go back to school please.

Since July, security forces have launched almost daily raids on suspected insurgent hideouts in villages and towns and have detained dozens of 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.

Oh well. Let them lose then so they can kill more monks, teachers, and rubber sappers.

Four Killed, Press Needs History Classes

Four shot dead in Thai south

Four men, including a school principal, have been shot dead by suspected Islamic militants in Thailand's insurgency-torn south, police said on Tuesday.

Three of the victims, including the principal, were killed in drive-by shootings in Pattani province, while the fourth was shot dead in nearby Yala, police said.

The shootings were the latest in a series of near-daily attacks in the Muslim-majority south, where more than 2,600 people have been killed since a separatist insurgency broke out in January 2004.

The Muslim region was annexed by mainly Buddhist Thailand a century ago and separatist tensions have simmered since.

Aaarrrgh!!! The Siamese conquered the region BACK in the 1700's during their war of indepence from Burma whom the Sultandom had Allied itself.

Jihad's Sickest Home Videos

Restive my ass. WHO coined that annoying phrase and why aren't they forced to shave their heads and collect alms with the Buddhist Monks in the region. Or teach school. Or work as a tree sapper. Then they might see how "restive" it is.

Mobile phones seized in restive southern Thailand depict gruesome videos

Police in insurgency-wracked southern Thailand said Tuesday that mobile phones seized from an attack site contain video clips showing suspected insurgents beheading their victims and in one case, cutting off a soldier's sex organ.

Investigators found two mobile phones in a bag left behind in an area of Yala province where suspected insurgents killed a police officer over the weekend, said police Col.Sompien Eksomya from Yala's Bannang Star district, where the attack occurred.

"We sent the SIM cards to be checked out and found gruesome video clips", he said by telephone.

One video clip taken Jan. 2, 2006 showed a suspected insurgent beheading a soldier, then severing his penis and laughing with the person taking the video, Sompien said.
The second clip was made on May 14 of this year, showing the beheading of a Buddhist man after he and his wife were shot. A third video clip filmed June 15 shows the bullet-ridden bodies of seven soldiers.

Sompien said that police were searching for the men seen in the videos.
More than 2,400 people have been killed in the Muslim-majority southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat since a long-simmering Islamic separatist insurgency flared up in January 2004. At least 29 Buddhists have been beheaded in the past three years.

And what the hell is a SUSPECTED INSURGENT? Either it was done by insurgents or not. A person might be SUSPECTED to be an insurgent but the other phrase makes no sense. Then the ommission of the actual nature of these "insurgents" makes no sense either.

Restive String of Bombs

Who might have done this?

Coordinated bombings rock the South

A string of 13 bomb explosions Monday morning in the troubled deep South injured at least nine people, including one Buddhist monk, a military source said.

The first batch of five bombs went off about 7 am local time in the morning market of Rangae town, Narathiwat province, 790 kilometres south of Bangkok, injuring a monk on his alms-gathering rounds and two soldiers guarding him, said regional army spokesman Colonel Akara Thiprote.

Five villagers were also injured in the first attack.

Another four bombs were detonated in Rangae at 8:10 am, injuring one person.

Rangue is classified as a "red zone" by Thai authorities, because of the close collaboration between separatists and the town's inhabitants.

Meanwhile, two more bombs went off in Waeng, and one each in Sisakorn and Sungai Padi, all in Narathiwat, leaving two people injured.

They were the latest of more than 6,000 violent incidents reported over the past three and a half years in Thailand's troubled deep South, the majority-Muslim region comprising Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces and parts of Songkhla.

According to army data, some 2,500 people have died from the violence since January 1, 2004.

Children Injured

9 children injured in teashop explosion in Thai south

Nine children were severely injured when suspected insurgents detonated a bomb at a teashop in Thailand's deep southern province Yala Saturday night, media here reported Sunday.

The bomb exploded at the teashop located in Yala's Muang district (provincial seat) at 8:25 p.m. (1325GMT) Saturday, according to news network The Nation.

The children, aged between six to fourteen years, were rushed to the Yala provincial hospital.

Thailand's three southernmost provinces -- Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani, has been stricken with a new wave of insurgent violence since January 2004, which has killed over 2,400 people in the region.

Thai authorities has blamed Malay-ethnic Muslim militants in the region for the bombings, drive-by shootings and arsons being staged on an almost daily basis.

Restive Killings

Three persons shot dead in Thai south

Three persons, including a female teacher and a couple, were killed inside their own houses by militants Sunday night in Thailand's far southern province Pattani, media here reported Monday.

News network The Nation quoted police as saying that a temporary female teacher of Ban Pathung School, 24-year-old Yamairya Mali, was killed when an unknown number of gunmen bombarded her house in Pattani's Saiburi district with M16 rifles and an 11-mm pistol at 7 p.m. (1200GMT).

Also in Saiburi, Sagariya Malae, 39, and his wife, Saripah, 28, were killed in their house at 7:30 p.m.(1230GMT). They were shot by M16 rifles and 9-mm pistols by an unknown number of militants.

All the three victims were Muslims, police said.

Pattani, along with nearby provinces Yala and Narathiwat in Thailand's deep south has been troubled with a renewed round of insurgent violence since January 2004, which has killed over 2,400 people in the region.

Authorities blamed Malay-ethnic Muslim separatists for the violence. Security personnel, local officials, educators and civilians, more often of the region's minority residents Thai Buddhists, have fallen victim to almost daily roadside bombings and drive-by shootings.

Bomb Kills 1

More restiveness from the usual suspects.

Bomb kills 1, wounds 5 in Thailand's restive south

A bomb in Thailand's insurgency-plagued south killed a soldier and injured five others when it destroyed a pickup truck they were in Saturday, police said.

Suspected insurgents planted the bomb on a bridge in Pattani province's Mayo district, 750 kilometers (470 miles) south of Bangkok, said police Lt. Col. Chaiyapruek Phatiwarakorn.

Chaiyapruek said the six soldiers had been lured to the area to investigate a suspected bomb that turned out to be a hoax — but as they later passed the bridge a bomb exploded and instantly killed the driver, Sgt. Maj. Sermsak Kanchanaphet.

Five soldiers sitting in the back were wounded, Chaiyapruek said.

More than 2,400 people have been killed in Thailand's Muslim-majority southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, and southern part of nearby Songkhla, since a long-simmering Islamic separatist insurgency flared up in January 2004.

Government efforts to suppress the rebels have had little success, as the insurgents continue to carry out drive-by killings and small-scale bombings on a near-daily basis.

70 Restive Types Arrested

Nearly 70 arrested in raids in Thai south

NARATHIWAT, Thailand (AFP) — Thai security forces arrested 69 suspected separatist militants in raids on homes in the troubled Muslim-majority south, police said Sunday.

More than 200 police and army rangers swept through the seven villages in Narathiwat province along the southern border with Malaysia, where they also seized shotguns, pistols, and bomb making supplies, police said.

The latest arrests followed raids on Saturday, when 13 people were arrested in Narathiwat.

Since late June, Thai forces have arrested hundreds of suspected militants and taken them to detention camps at army bases where they are questioned and often go through "re-education" programmes.

They are required to be released after 30 days unless they are charged, but could be detained again in the next security sweep.

A five-minute gunfight broke out during one of the raids, injuring two rangers, police said.

More than 2,500 people have been killed in nearly daily violence in the Muslim-majority south since an insurgency broke out in January 2004.

Mainly Buddhist Thailand annexed the region a century ago. Separatist violence has flared periodically since, and has escalated this year despite a raft of peace measures by the kingdom's army-backed government.

In a concession, the army said it would lift the curfew that has been in effect for six months in two districts of Yala province, in order to allow residents to observe the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The army spokesman, Colonel Acar Tiproch said the curfew would resume after Ramadan unless the security situation improved.

I didn't realize that the 1750s was only a hundred years ago... Thanks for clearing that up AFP!

Restive Report

More of the same.

Bomb, gun attacks continue in southern Thailand

Two rubber tappers were ambushed by suspected insurgents on Monday morning in Thailand's southern province of Yala while a group of soldiers were attacked by a roadside bomb, local police said.

In the early hours of Monday morning, two rubber tappers were under gun attacks by suspected insurgents who opened fire on them as they were on their way to work in Raman district of Yala province.

The husband died from his wounds while his wife received life- threatening injuries. She is now being treated at a local hospital, local newspaper the Bangkok Post said on its website.

In a separate attack in Pattani province, military officers providing security for teachers were ambushed in Mayo district. The bombs had been placed to cause maximum damage but due to its inefficiency, failed to cause any injuries or deaths.

Police are investigating both cases to bring those responsible to justice.

Thailand's three southernmost provinces -- Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani have been troubled with insurgency-related violence which has claimed more than 2,500 lives since it resumed in early 2004. Insurgents carried out some 3,000 attacks on civilians and another 1,000 against military personnel and the police. Human Rights Watch has concluded that nearly 90 percent of the victims killed in the past three years have been civilians.

Some Progress Is Good

There's a long way to go in this War. One disadvantage the Islamists have is they might work people up at first but it doesn't take long for the locals to realize that things are better without them.

Thai Leader Says Progress Made Against Violence in South

Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont says some progress is being made in reducing violence in the country's southern provinces, which have been wracked by Muslim separatist violence. Mr. Surayud made the comment while calling for greater cooperation among Southeast Asian nations that have suffered from Muslim terrorism. Ron Corben reports from Bangkok.

Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont says he hopes the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Australia will give attention to terrorism in states belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.

Mr. Surayud, speaking to reporters before his departure for the September summit, says terrorism is the main security issue currently facing the region.

"ASEAN as a whole is quite concerned with the terrorism, which has become a key security issue in the region," he said.

Mr. Surayud adds that individual countries are finding it more difficult to cope with the rising tide of violence.

"We know that this kind of threat is not local - it's a globalized situation at the moment. So it depends a lot on the cooperation among various countries worldwide to cope with this threat, otherwise we will not be able to cope," said Mr. Surayud.

A separatist campaign in the largely Muslim provinces of Southern Thailand has claimed the lives of more 2,400 people since early 2004. Five were killed in a series of attacks by suspected separatists just this week, including the shooting dead of a 67-year-old construction worker and the burning of his body

Earlier this week, the U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch reported that separatist groups in the south have vowed to fight on "without any compromise" with the Thai state. The group and others say the separatists are aiming for a state independent from largely Buddhist Thailand.

Still, Mr. Surayud says the state is making some progress against the separatists.

"On the Thai side, we already make some progress in terms of reducing the level of violence in the Southern part of the country, according to the aggressive operation on the government side," he said.

In recent months, Thai security forces have conducted sweeps across the region, making widespread arrests of alleged separatists and charging them with attacks on civilians and local officials, teachers and Buddhist monks.

Restiveness and Murder

More of the same from the usual suspects.

Eight die in fresh South violence

Insurgent attacks on state schools and Thai-Buddhist communities have claimed more civilian lives in the past two days in the deep South, provincial officials said Tuesday.

The fresh wave of violence coincided with the launch Tuesday of a 104-page report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch which roundly blasts the southern Muslim separatists for targeting civilians in its political struggle.

Two public school teachers were gunned down on Monday in Pattani, 720 kilometres south of Bangkok, and six other Thai-Buddhists slain Monday and early Tuesday.

"The insurgents have shifted their tactics from beheading villagers to targetting public school teachers," said Pattani Governor Panu Uthairat. Altogether 69 teachers have been killed in Thailand's southern conflict over the past three years and eight months.

Female teacher Kesine Timthep, 42, was shot dead Monday in front of her pupils by two gunmen as she was about to enter the Sasanasuksa School in Sai Buri, Pattani. A male teacher was also gunned down Monday in Yalang, also in Pattani province.

Arsonists set fire to at least five state schools in the province Monday night, forcing ten schools to shut their doors to pupils on Tuesday.

Prapaijit Noonlaksert, 44, a female rubber tapper, was killed in an ambush early Tuesday as she entered a plantation with four other Thai-Buddhist workers, police said.

"The recent wave of attacks may be in revenge for all the suspects authorities have arrested in recent weeks," said Panu. Thai authorities have rounded up hundreds of suspected insurgents in the past three months, keeping many of them in detention under powers allowed by an emergency decree enacted in the region.

Some 2,500 people have fallen victim to an escalating separatist movement in Thailand's three southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala, since January, 2004, when the conflict took a militant turn for the worse.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch on Tuesday launched a 104-page report on the conflict that sharply criticized the separatists for their increasingly brutal attacks on civilians.

"After decades of low-intensity insurgency, Thailand's southern region is becoming the scene of a brutal armed conflict," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Separatist militants are intentionally targeting both Buddhist and Muslim civilians in shootings, bombings and machete attacks."

The report identifies the Pejuang Kemerdekaan Patani, or Patani Freedom Fighters, in the loose network of National Revolution Front-Coordinate as the backbone of the new generation of Muslim separatist militants.

Of the 2,463 people killed in attacks during the past 40 months, some 89 per cent or 2,196 victims were civilians, it said. At least 29 of the victims had been beheaded.

"Violence against civilians is being used by separatist militants to scare Buddhist Thais away from these provinces, keep ethnic Malay Muslims under control, and discredit the Thai authorities," said Adams. "But it is illegal and morally indefensible to deliberately target civilians in any circumstances."

Restive Rebels Kill 7

Rebels? Like in Star Wars?

Rebels kill seven in south Thailand

policeman who had been guarding the Thai queen was among seven people shot dead by suspected separatists in Thailand's Muslim-majority south, police said on Tuesday.

Militants ambushed a police vehicle that had been providing security to Thailand's Queen Sirikit, about 20 minutes after she had arrived at the palace in Narathiwat province where she is vacationing, police said.

A 27-year-old policeman was killed and two others seriously injured in the ambush late on Tuesday, they said.

In another attack, militants shot dead a 67-year-old Buddhist construction worker and set his body ablaze late yesterday in Pattani province, police said.

Two Buddhist women were also shot dead in separate attacks in Pattani and Yala provinces, while two Muslim men were killed in drive-by shootings late yesterday in Narathiwat, police added.

Another Muslim man was killed late yesterday in the province of Songkhla as he pedalled his ice cream cart, the authorities added.

More than 2,500 people have been killed in the unrest that has gripped Thailand's restive southern Muslim heartland for more than three years. The region was annexed by Buddhist Thailand a century ago.

The situation has worsened since the military seized power in Thailand in a coup last year, despite increased defence spending and a raft of peace-building initiatives.

Rights Group Notices

A Human Rights group notices that restiveness isn't nice. From the Washington Post.

Rights Group Documents Brutality Of Insurgents in Southern Thailand

Separatist militants in Thailand's mostly Muslim southern provinces have stepped up a decades-long, low-intensity insurgency into a wave of brutal bomb attacks, assassinations, machete hackings and, in some cases, beheadings and mutilations in the past 3 1/2 years, an extensive Human Rights Watch report said today.

Interviews with witnesses, family members, academics, lawyers, journalists and human rights activists painted a bloody picture of the predominantly ethnic Malay provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla from January 2004 to last month.

Of the 2,463 people killed in attacks during that time, a total of 2,196, or 89 percent, have been civilians. "Violence against civilians is being used by separatist militants to scare Buddhist Thais away from these provinces, keep ethnic Malay Muslims under control and discredit the Thai authorities," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Village-based militants who call themselves the Patani Freedom Fighters have emerged as the core of a more violent generation of separatists bent on carving up the southern border provinces between ethnic Malay Muslims and so-called "infidels." They claim the land is a religious "conflict zone" that must be freed from what they term a Buddhist Thai occupation.

More than 3,000 attacks have targeted civilians since January 2004, including attacks on schools. Teachers, public health workers, hospital staff and infants in their mothers' arms have been victims of violent rampages that have terrorized inhabitants.

Summary executions based on ethnicity have been carried out by green-clad gunmen with assault rifles, who ambush victims along country roads, the report said.

Ethnic Malay Muslims suspected of collaborating with Thai authorities or known for their opposition to the militants have also come under attack. Those Malay Muslims are treated as "traitors or hypocrites" for betraying what Human Rights Watch described as "a radical blend of Malay nationalism and Islamist ideology."

One example was the killing of the son of one Muslim Malay village chief. Usman Jaema told Human Rights Watch that his 15-year-old son was hacked with machetes and axes in January 2004 by separatists who wanted to warn the chief not to oppose their operations.

"There are around 10 Muslim youths in this village who join the militants. They have been trained to become guerrilla fighters. They do not like me," Jaema was quoted as saying. "After the attack, my villagers look down on me. They said I could not protect my own son, then how could I be able to protect them? Some of them even said that it might be practical to give support to the militants to ensure their safety."

Restiveness Kills Teacher

More "restive" activities from the "separatists".

Schools closed after attacks in S Thailand

Education system in Thailand's far southern region was hit by fresh violent attacks on Monday as a female teacher was killed in a drive-by shooting, while bombing and arson attacks prompted schools in the Pattani and Yala provinces to close.

Kesinee Timptep, 42, was shot at the gate of the Sassanasuksa School in Sai Buri district, Pattani province at 10:30 a.m. Monday, according to news network The Nation. She later died at a local hospital.

Witnesses told police that she was shot in the head by a pillion rider who fled the scene after the shooting, the report said.

Earlier in Pattani, three schools and a child development center in Sai buri district, and two schools in Kapo district were torched, prompting the closure of all schools in the two districts for Monday, according to Thai News Agency.

In Pattani's Yarang district, three schools have been closed for an indefinite period due to security concerns after the director of a local school was killed last Friday.

In nearby province Yala, two bombs exploded in front of the Banphaphoo-ngo School in Raman district early Monday.

The first bomb went off at 5:20 a.m. (2230GMT), while a second bomb was detonated as security personnel arrived to investigate the first bombing. No one was wounded in the incidents. The school closed on Monday after the bombing.

Restive Duffy Kills 4

More restiveness, although 3 separatists will be less restive now.

3 insurgents, 1 soldier die in gunfight in Thailand's restive south

Soldiers raided a suspected militant hide-out in insurgency-wracked southern Thailand on Sunday, triggering a gun battle that left three suspected Muslim rebels and one soldier dead, the army said.

About a dozen soldiers took part in the raid and subsequent exchange of fire in Yala's Yaha district, Maj. Prawet Chusang said.

"They fired from inside the house as we were about to go in to carry out a search," Prawet said.

Three suspected insurgents and one soldier were killed, and another soldier was wounded, he said, adding that the military detained three more suspected insurgents.

More than 2,400 people have been killed in the predominantly Muslim provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat and some parts of Songkhla since early 2004, when a separatist movement flared up after a lull of more than two decades.

The military considers Yaha district an insurgent stronghold and has enforced a curfew in the area since March.

The military has been launching offensive operations in several areas where insurgents are particularly active since May, detaining hundreds of insurgents for questioning. There have been at least two other gunfights in the restive region this month, leaving eight insurgents dead and one soldier wounded.

Here's something that won't be said. The previous seperatist movement was a communist one. This is an Islamist one. Big difference.

More Restiveness

If I could meet the member of the press who came up with the term "restive" to describe the violence in the South of Thailand I would make him shave his head and march around dressed as a Monk collecting alms to see how he likes the accuracy of the description.

Bomb blast kills 1 and injures 11 in Thailand's restive south

A bomb exploded as Buddhist monks collected alms in Thailand's restive south, killing a man and injuring 11 other people, including six soldiers who were guarding the monks, police said.

A bomb hidden underneath a table in front of a grocery shop in Pattani's Muang district went off as two Buddhist monks climbed off a military vehicle to accept an offering of food from the shop's owner, said police Col. Somchit Nasomyon.

The blast instantly killed the shop owner, Yaowaphan Thientham, Somchit said. It also injured six soldiers who were part of the patrol guarding the monks, three villagers and two monks known as novices because they are under 15 years, he said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

More than 2,400 people have been killed since a Muslim insurgency erupted three years ago in the Muslim-dominated southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. Buddhists civilians and monks have been the insurgents' prime targets, as part of a campaign to terrify and drive Buddhist civilians from the region.

This might be called "Ethnic Cleansing" if the Serbs were doing it.

Buddhist monks have been slain and dozens injured in bomb explosions. For three years, the military has provided escorts for Buddhist monks while they collect alms in the morning.

During an official visit to Malaysia earlier this week, Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont and his Malaysian counterpart Abdullah Ahmad Badawi discussed the ongoing construction of a bridge connecting the countries to facilitate the movement of people across the border.

"Malaysia has no policy of supporting separatism (within southern Thailand). It wants to develop its northern region, and that cannot happen if the violence in southern Thailand continues," Surayud said in his weekly address Saturday during a visit to Narathiwat.

Surayud and Abdullah also discussed establishing exchanges of students and Islamic teachers, as well as a program to allow Thais to cross the border to work and return home at night.

Malaysia interestingly enough does have a policy of treating the 40 percent of its own population who aren't Mulsim like shit so I'm sure they'll be a big help.

Headmaster Shot

Schools are a target because they do bad un-Islamic things like teach girls to read and mix Buddhist and Muslim students which of course the Islamists are not exactly in support of. Only boys can go to school, and only Islamic schools that teach them to read the Koran, rock back and forth like little robots and kill their infidel neighbours.

School headmaster shot and burned in Thailand's restive south

Suspected insurgents fatally shot a school headmaster and then set his body on fire Friday in Thailand's violence-plagued south, police said.

Nong Bunsak, the 50-year-old headmaster of Ban Sano school, was shot while he was driving a car to pick up his wife, who taught at a nearly school in Pattani's Yarang district, said police Sub. Lt. Dutsadee Siltrakul.

Suspected insurgents on motorcycles fired at his vehicle, forcing him to stop and attempt to run away, police said. They then shot him before setting his body aflame.

Drive-by shootings and bombings occur almost daily in Thailand's three southernmost Muslim-majority provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani, where an Islamic insurgency that flared in January 2004 has killed more than 2,400 people.

Teachers, along with other government officials, have been prime targets of insurgent attacks. More than 60 public school teachers have been killed since 2004.

Islamists Kill 2, Free History Lesson

2 shot dead, 19 wounded in Thai bomb attacks

YALA, Thailand -- Two Muslims were shot dead and 19 people, including several policemen, were wounded in twin bomb attacks near a busy railway station Tuesday in Thailand's restive south, police said.

The first bomb, hidden in the front basket of a motorcycle, went off during the morning rush hour in Yala, one of three insurgency-torn provinces bordering Malaysia, they said.

As police rushed to the scene, a more powerful bomb exploded, injuring 19 people, including eight policemen and four from the local press.
The second explosive was hidden inside the same motorcycle, and insurgents detonated it through a remote control, police said.

Also in Yala, a 28-year-old Muslim man was gunned down by militants at a tea shop early Tuesday, and another 27-year-old Muslim man was shot dead in a drive-by shooting in the province late Monday.

More than 2,400 people have been killed and thousands more injured in separatist violence that has rocked southern Thailand for three years.

The region was an autonomous Malay sultanate until it was annexed a century ago by Buddhist Thailand.

The area was "officially" annexed 1909 in treaty between the British ruled Malaysia and the Kingdom of Siam. The area itself was conquered in the 1700s after the Siam war of independence against the Burmese. The Siamese still held a grudge with the Sultanate for attacking Ayutthaya the old Capital of Siam in 1563.

The British had promised to let the area become it's own independent state again after World War 2 but changed their minds as they saw Siam as an natural Allie against the various Communist insurrections in the region.

Malaysia was Islamified in the 13th Century. Before that the area was part of the
Hindu-Malay empire of Langkasuka.

In any event I'm sick of hearing the press say Thailand "annexed" the region from a sultante that hadn't existed for several hundred years. And I don't see how killing some poor bloke sitting in a tea shop is going to change history or restore the glory of the Sultante that died out in the 17th Century.

Indian "Foreign Militants" with Thai Links?

Restiveness is spreading all over the place. Why would "foreign militants" have links to "groups" in the South of Thailand? It's all so confusing! Guide me MSN...

India arrests 'foreign militants'

They said those arrested during weekend raids in the town of Moreh were either Rohingya people from the Arakan province of Burma or from Bangladesh.

Over the last 15 years, thousands of Arakanese Muslims have fled Burma to escape alleged government persecution.

A large number of Rohingya refugees live in camps in Bangladesh.

'Speculative'

"We think they are members of a Rohingya insurgent organisation operating in Arakan but we are not yet definite which one," Maj-Gen BK Chengappa, who leads Indian counter-insurgency operations in Manipur, told the BBC's Subir Bhaumik in Calcutta.

Asked whether those arrested may have links to al-Qaeda, he said there was "no evidence" about such links, which "could only be speculative".

Police said no weapons were seized from those arrested, but some documents have been recovered suggesting they had links with Islamic groups active in Thailand.

Moreh, on the Burma border, is about 109km (68 miles) from Manipur's state capital, Imphal.

"If they are Rohingya insurgents, it is possible they would have links with militant groups in southern Thailand. But this is something we have to check in depth," an intelligence official told our correspondent.

He said possible links between those arrested and local Muslim radicals in Manipur is also being probed.

Earlier this year, three Manipur Muslims working for the Islamic radical group, Lashkar-e-Toyeba were arrested in Delhi.

About 7% of Manipur's population is Muslim.