Thais Fear 'Militant' Revenge
Angry and grief-stricken villagers buried their dead Thursday a day after Thai police killed more than 100 suspected Islamic militants, and the government braced for revenge attacks amid allegations of excessive force.
The widespread killings happened as police repulsed coordinated insurgent attacks at dawn Wednesday across Thailand's Muslim south. Bands of about 20 people each raided about 15 police outposts and checkpoints in the provinces of Yala, Pattani and Songkhla.
Security forces shot and killed 108 alleged militants, including 32 holed up in a mosque. Five police were killed in fights with the suspects, most of them teenagers armed with knives or other bladed weapons.
"These people only had machetes," said Wahah Chemu, a relative of one of those killed. "The authorities should not have retaliated with weapons of war."
Wednesday's bloodshed was by far the worst in Thailand's recent history, fueled by long-standing discontent amid people in the south over perceived neglect of minority Muslims by the Buddhist central government.
Ethnic-related unrest has been on the increase since January, and police said they were tipped to the planned attacks by their network of Muslim and Buddhist informers.
Shock at the sweep of the violence turned to anger amid speculation that police fired automatic guns and grenade launchers indiscriminately — even at those fleeing and at innocent bystanders.
Vithaya Visetrat, a prominent Islamic cleric in the provincial capital of Pattani, said the crackdown could widen the scale of the conflict. "It is the beginning of the people's war," he told The Associated Press.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said the response "appears to have been disproportionate" to the threat from the attackers and urged an immediate investigation.
Washington also expressed concern but did not criticize the government's actions.
State Department spokesman Adam Ereli declined to comment directly when asked if excessive force had been used by Thai forces. He said America was offering to help Thailand bring the situation under control "in a way that is responsive to the needs of the citizens" in southern Thailand.
In Bangkok, government spokesman Jakrapob Penkair denied that any unarmed people were shot, and officials pointed to what they said were a handful of leaders who were well-trained and armed with guns.
As relatives conducted Muslim funeral rites at mass graves in several villages in the three provinces, top officials and police were anticipating more violence.
Defense Minister Chettha Thanajaro said some 300 militants were still at large and could launch "second and third waves" of attacks in revenge.
He dispatched two battalions of 700 troops each to join some 2,500 soldiers already deployed in the south, parts of which are under martial law. Soldiers also fanned out in forests and jungle-covered hills, searching for remnants and sympathizers.
"We are 100 percent sure they will attack again," said Sgt. Danupol U'Sae, an officer at a station that repulsed an attack Wednesday. "We are waiting."
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has insisted there was no foreign involvement in the attacks, though Chettha said Thursday that some of the insurgents had received training abroad. He refused to say where.
Relatives of those killed struggled to come to grips with the violence, particularly government claims that the attackers Wednesday wanted to steal guns to supply their insurgency or sell for drugs.
"He never told us anything about attacking the police," said Abdurrahman Deramang, of Kuwa village, as he fought back tears for the death of his 21-year-old son. "Why would he do that? He had his own ideas about politics and religion, but he was a good boy."
In Suso, another village, mourners watched as 18 men — all players on the local amateur soccer team — were buried. Relatives said some of them had said in recent days that they wanted to be buried with their teammates if anything bad were to happen. Witnesses said the 18 had attacked a police checkpoint Wednesday.
In Pattani, about 60 mourners wearing traditional Muslim clothes held kerchiefs or their shirts over their faces to counter the smell of death as they swathed nine bodies in cloth, slipped them into makeshift wooden caskets and lowered them side by side into a single burial pit.
Wednesday's carnage reinforced Thaksin's reputation for using deadly force to solve tough problems. In the past year, an estimated 2,000 people were killed after Thaksin declared war on drug traffickers. Rights groups accused police of summary executions — allegations the government denied.
Officials have blamed Islamic separatists for mostly small but almost daily attacks this year that have killed policemen, teachers and government officials.
According to the most recent U.S. terrorism report, a terrorist attack struck a hotel in Tachilek, Thailand on May 9, 2002, killing one person and injuring three others.
One of the State Department's designated foreign terrorist organizations is reported to have links in Thailand — Jemaah Islamiya, an organization with ties to al Qaeda.
Another group the State Department monitors, the Cambodian Freedom Fighters, has members in Thailand. It seeks the overthrow of the current government in neighboring Cambodia.
Of the thousands of names on the U.S. list of "specially designated foreign nationals," whose assets are blocked because of suspected links to terrorism, only one person is linked to Thailand. Chiwinnitipanya Charnchai is listed 10 times, however, because of his many aliases, including Shao-Kang Wei and Prasit Cheewinnittipanya.