“A Thai soldier looks on at the scene of a burned out school near Pattani, Thailand, Monday, April 16, 2007. The elementary school, which served mostly Thai Buddhist students, was burned in retaliation for the killing of several Muslim youths two days earlier. Two successive regimes have failed in the south with more than 40,000 troops and police unable to provide adequate security for Buddhist and moderate Muslim alike.” Photo by David Longstreath for the Associated Press.
The Associated Press reports on the growing number of attacks in southern Thailand that may threaten a larger conflict between Buddhists and Muslims in the region.
Ten Muslim villagers killed by gunmen firing assault rifles into a mosque during evening prayers. A 53-year-old Buddhist rubber tapper shot, decapitated and limbs cut from his torso, his head impaled on a stick.
The circumstances and brutality of those attacks this month have revived fears that a long-running insurgency in Thailand’s south could be evolving into a sectarian conflict pitting Buddhists against Muslims.
Islamic separatists ignited the insurgency in January 2004, sparking a cycle of army repression and rebellion that has left more than 3,500 people dead. Frustrated by their inability to curb the violence, Thai security forces have increasingly been arming civilian self-defense forces — almost all Buddhist — to protect villagers.
The proliferation of guns, many put in the poorly trained hands of parties with scores to settle, makes the situation extremely volatile.
Reuters further reports on a study from the International Crisis Group (ICG) which says that “militants in Thailand’s deep south are using Islamic schools to recruit fighters” for the conflict.
In my interview with my good friend Erick D. White, which was posted to the blog last year, we talked a lot about the history of Buddhist-Muslim relations/tensions in southern Thailand. Take a look.
