Bombings and arson attacks have hit at least 17 locations in southern Thailand, in seemingly linked and coordinated incidents, injuring seve...
Bombings and arson attacks have hit at least 17 locations in southern Thailand, in seemingly linked and coordinated incidents, injuring several people.
According to a report by Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera, military and police officials said the bombing and arson attacks took place late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.
A military spokesman said at least 17 such attacks took place in the southern provinces of Patni, Narathiwat and Yala, mostly targeting small shops and gas stations, while at least three civilians were injured. It is reported.
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No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The police captain said they received a report shortly before midnight that a suspect entered a shop at a gas station in Yala's Yaha district, placed a black bag in the shop and warned employees that if he was alive Leave if you want.
All the workers left after the suspect held the bag and threatened him and 10 minutes before the explosion.
A decades-long, grassroots insurgency has raged in southern Thailand's provinces bordering Malaysia, with the Thai government battling groups seeking independence for parts of the Muslim-majority provinces of Patni, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla.
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According to the Deep South Watch group, which monitors violent incidents, more than 7,300 civilians have been killed in the conflict since 2004.
Restlessness in the Southern Provinces
Muslim Thais living in the southern provinces have long complained of being treated as second-class citizens in the Buddhist-majority country, and the Thai government's crackdown has also fueled discontent among Muslims in the southern provinces. And has fueled anxiety.
A military spokesman said the attackers were riding motorcycles while they hurled petrol bombs at their targets in several attacks.
He said that it is clear that the insurgents want to create violent incidents, economic instability, uncertainty and weaken the government system.
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The latest wave of attacks comes after the Thai government resumed talks with the main rebel group Barisan Revolusi Nasional earlier this year after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Peace talks between the parties, which began in 2013, have repeatedly stalled.
The Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO), which was excluded from the latest round of negotiations, carried out the bombings during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The group claimed it was not engaged in talks with the government, with the group's leader telling Reuters that the latest attacks had nothing to do with his party PULO.
The Thai government says it is ready to talk and negotiate with all groups.
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Insurgent groups in the southern province typically carry out hit-and-run attacks, including methods such as escape shootings and planting roadside bombs.
The insurgent group also conducts occasional organized attacks to show its strength, increase pressure on the government and get its political demands met.
In November 2019, armed assailants killed 15 village defense volunteers and injured five security personnel, an attack believed to be the deadliest attack on government forces since the insurgency began. There is an attack.
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