Thai Muslim insurgent attacks kill 3, wound 12

Yala (Thailand), Aug 1: Separatist rebels launched a spate of gun, arson and bomb attacks in Thailand's rebellious Muslim far south today, killing three people and wounding at least 12, police and soldiers said.

The attacks took place after dawn across the three southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, where more than 2,300 people have been killed in the three-year insurgency.

Militants shot dead two soldiers and wounded another as they patrolled a rail track in Yala. The attackers walked away with two M-16 rifles and a pistol, police said.

The attack came shortly after 400 police and soldiers raided 17 targets in the capital of Yala province, but they found only four guns and no suspects, an army spokesman said.

In Narathiwat, insurgents set off a bomb hidden in a motorcycle parked in a busy market, killing a Buddhist woman and wounding 11 other shoppers, they said.

Other violence, including an arson attack on a petrol station and bombs hidden in rubbish bins, caused some damage but no casualties, police said.

Since last month, security forces have launched almost daily raids on suspected insurgent hideouts in villages and towns and have detained nearly 400 people without charge.

Human rights groups are critical, saying detainees are exposed to potential abuses by the army, which is operating under martial law that grants soldiers immunity from prosecution.

Since taking office last year after a bloodless coup, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has fought off pressure from the Buddhist majority to take stronger action in the Malay-speaking region, saying he remains committed to a peaceful resolution.

He has apologised for the harsh policies of ousted predecessor Thaksin Shinawatra and promised restraint in dealing with the violence.

But he has had no more success than Thaksin in dampening the violence in the region, a former Muslim sultanate annexed by Thailand about a century ago.

Reuters>