Thailand steps up security in south after rebel attacks
Thai authorities have stepped up security in the country's southern border provinces after a coordinated wave of rebel attacks over the weekend, which left at least three people wounded and significantly damaged government and public infrastructure.
According to security officials, insurgents carried out more than 50 separate attacks between 8:00 p.m. and midnight on Saturday in the restive provinces of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani, located near the border with Malaysia. The attacks included bombings, shootings and arson, damaging government buildings, telecommunications towers, railway tracks, vehicles and at least one shop. The brunt of the assault fell on Narathiwat province. About a month ago, a deadly attack also occurred in this province, when militants opened fire on a local checkpoint, killing five Thai soldiers and wounding six civilians.
For residents living in the shadow of a protracted insurgency, the latest unrest rekindled a familiar sense of fear. "It's very disheartening. We don't know when it will end. Sometimes, when it's quiet and peaceful, we think maybe it won't happen again. But soon it happens again. We still wonder when this situation will stop and when these incidents will finally end," said Nurallia Saleh, a resident of a Narathiwat village, in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Monday.
Narathiwat Governor Bunchuai Hom-yam-yen said the disruption to government services had been particularly damaging. "The greatest damage has been to government agencies, because they work closely with local communities. They are responsible for providing services such as allowances for the elderly and the disabled, and these incidents have disrupted the work of these services," he told CGTN.
The violence is the latest chapter in a two decade long separatist insurgency in Thailand's Muslim majority south, where rebel groups have long sought greater autonomy from the predominantly Buddhist state. Since 2004, more than 7,000 people have been killed in the ongoing conflict, with thousands more wounded.
