Thai army detains eight in Muslim village raid

BANGKOK, July 8 (Reuters) Thai security forces raided a village in the rebellious Muslim south today and detained eight men with bomb-making material, an army senior official said.

The Muslim detainees were taken for questioning to an army camp in Narathiwat, one of three provinces where more than 2,300 people have been killed in a three-year separatist insurgency in the Malay-speaking region.

The dawn raid, which involved 200 navy troops and police, rushed to the village in Narathiwat province where a group of militants were hiding, Colonel Boonkerd Monlakan told Reuters by telephone.

''We arrested eight of them and they're all on our wanted list,'' Colonel Boonkerd said.

The evidence found there include guns, bomb-making materials, documents and video CDs used in insurgency plans, he said.

Last month, the army detained 160 Muslims after rebels intensified attacks on government schools, civil servants and security forces.

Buddhism is the dominant religion in Thailand.

REUTERS PD MIR KP1452