Pattani, Thailand - In a new spate of atrocities in
Thailand's troubled deep South, suspected separatists crucified a
Thai-Muslim man for being an informant and beheaded two
Thai-Buddhists, military sources said Thursday.
The body of Thai-Muslim Abdulloh Malohsae, an assistant headman in
Rueso district, Narathiwat province, was found Wednesday nailed to a
cross with his throat slashed, and a note pinned to his chest
reading, 'This is how the running dogs of Thai officials come to an
end.'
It was the first time separatists had crucified their victim,
pounding nails through Abdulloh's hands, feet and forehead.
Also on Wednesday, assailants shot and beheaded Thai-Buddhists
Sanguan Kaikuan, 61, and Annupong Pomvian, 21, in Sisakorn district
of Narathiwat, 800 kilometres south of Bangkok.
Both men were travelling salesmen from north-east Thailand.
Army spokesman Colonel Akharra Thiprot said the brutal slayings
were acts of revenge against the military for cracking down on
insurgents in Narathiwat and restoring peace to the area.
'The situation in this area has improved so the insurgents are
trying to turn back the positive developments,' said Akharra.
Thailand's so-called deep South, comprising the three border
provinces Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala, has been in turmoil since
January 2004 when Muslim militants raided an army arms depot in
Narathiwat and stole more than 300 war weapons, unleashing a military
crackdown on the long-simmering separatist movement.
The region has seen a surge in violence ever since, with more than
2,600 people falling victim to clashes, shooting, bombings and
beheadings.
Nearly 80 per cent of the 2 million people living in the three
southernmost provinces of predominantly Buddhist Thailand profess to
be Muslims.
The three-province area, which borders Malaysia, was an
independent Islamic sultanate known as Pattani for hundreds of years
before being conquered by Bangkok in 1786. The area came under direct
rule of the Thai bureaucracy in 1902.
A separatist struggle took off in the 1950s, fuelled by government
efforts to suppress the local culture and religion.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
USA
Your Talkback on this Story