***Biggest challenge to state power in years
POST REPORTERS*
(Bangkok Post dd. 16 juni 2006 // DN)
Militants set off 50 bombs in the three southernmost provinces yesterday, killing at least three people and injuring scores of state workers and civilians in one of the biggest challenges to state authority in several years.
There were 12 bombs in Yala, 18 in Pattani and 20 in Narathiwat.
The government believes the morning blasts, in 29 places, were intended as a display of force and to send a message that insurgents could hit both government offices and private property.
Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra chided security authorities for failing to prevent the wave of explosions. “Prevention measures are not good enough,” he said in northern Chiang Mai province.
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According to a security source, intelligence reports had warned about possible attacks on June 15, which marked the anniversary of the creation of the insurgent’s so-called “free Pattani state.”
Key leaders of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) Coordinate and Pattani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo), including Masae Useng, who has a five-million-baht bounty on his head, met last month to evaluate the situation, according to the reports. They ordered young militants to step up attacks with a major operation scheduled on that day.
According to the source, the insurgent groups smuggled explosives and other weapons into Narathiwat’s Tak Bai district with plans to ambush security teams providing protection for teachers, key government offices and public meeting places.
Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Wannasathit believed the attacks were timed to mark the establishment of the “free Pattani state”.
“They want to stage a show of force,” said Pol Gen Chidchai, who arrived in Yala just as the blasts rocked the province.
Army chief Sonthi Boonyarataglin said a lack of trust and confidence in state authorities continued to impede attempts to solve the southern unrest.
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Chidchai: Intended as display of force
“We need to build up awareness among local people and urge them to act as our ears and eyes,” he said.
The army would discuss security issues in the deep South today.
An army source said Gen Sonthi had proposed the army take over security in the region and promised results in a year. However, his proposal was opposed by Pol Gen Chidchai, said the source.
Security measures were stepped up across the restive region, including neighbouring Songkhla, following the bomb attacks yesterday. Schools cancelled classes or sent students home early.
The bombs were planted inside state offices including the toilets of district offices and a public library, and private property including convenience stores and food shops.
All three fatalities were reported in Pattani.
A car bomb outside the Pattani provincial hall killed a security volunteer and wounded three others.
They were inspecting a Honda sedan which was about to enter the compound when the bomb went off. The driver was not injured.
The other fatal blast occurred at a local eatery in Khok Pho district, about 100 metres from Khok Pho police station.
Suriya Suwanmanee, vice-chairman of a tambon administrative organisation, and Mada-oh Khami were killed in the explosion that injured eight others.
Pol Lt-Gen Adul Saengsingkaew, chief of Police Region 9, said the bombs were not powerful but the attacks were well-planned. Four people were summoned for questioning, he said.
Police defused a two-kilogramme bomb planted under a car in Yala’s Muang district yesterday afternoon.
The bomb disposal squad cut off mobile phone signals in the area as soon as they were tipped off, police said.
The bombs went off just over a week after the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) handed in its report to the government on solving southern woes.
The NRC recommended that an unarmed peace-keeping force in the troubled provinces be created as a short-term measure.
As a long-term solution, it called for a new administrative body to oversee the restive provinces as a way to mediate conflicts and give residents a greater voice in local government decisions.
Voravit Baru, vice-rector of Pattani-based Prince of Songkla University and member of the NRC, criticised the government for failing to prevent the attacks, saying intelligence on possible bomb attacks had been leaked.
“What’s happening to the security forces? Many of the bombings took place in government buildings,” he said.
The government should abolish the Executive Decree on Administration in Emergency Situations in the deep South.
He said the legislation gave excessive power to authorities to search houses and arrest suspects without strong evidence, which upset local people.