Islamic jihad in Thailand includes ethnic cleansing

Atrocities abound as Islamic jihad terrorists open year five of an ethnic cleansing/Islamic statehood effort in Thailand's south..

A government policy of reconciliation in the region has backfired, analysts told AFP, with rebels beheading, mutilating and even crucifying victims to try to spark a backlash and create divisions between Buddhists and Muslims.

"They kill in such brutal ways: beheaded, hacked to death, set on fire ... the idea is to provoke a strong reaction of the Buddhist Thais against Muslims," said Sunai Phasuk, a Thailand consultant with Human Rights Watch.

"The Buddhist Thais feel that they have become subject of atrocities, and many of them even feel that ethnic cleansing is going on."

The pace of deadly violence has picked up since militants raided a southern army base on January 4, 2004, reviving long-running tensions and triggering an insurgency along the border region with Malaysia.

About 1,800 people were killed in the first three years of the insurgency. By the end of the fourth that has now risen to more than 2,800.

The south was an autonomous Malay sultanate until Buddhist Thailand annexed it in 1902.

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's heavy-handed tactics were widely blamed for exacerbating the unrest in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces, but he was ousted in a military coup in 2006.

The generals and their interim premier Surayud Chulanont vowed to quell the insurgency with olive branches for rebels, an apology for past abuses, reform of Islamic schools and tougher security.

Instead, they watched as killings grew more frequent and brutal, with both Buddhists and Muslims targeted every day.

An average of 72 people have been killed each month since September 2006, sharply up from 53 deaths per month before the coup, figures from independent monitoring group Intellectual Deep South Watch show.

"Nothing gets better. Everybody is living in fear, both Muslims and Buddhists," said 37-year-old Aeda E-tae, a Muslim food seller in Yala, who has become distrustful of her own customers.

Jan Taeng-on's son was shot dead by insurgents last year, and the 55-year-old Buddhist says she has never seen so much bloodshed.

"It's very scary -- militants have threatened me. They want all Buddhist Thais to move out, otherwise we will get killed," she told AFP.

Because the government's peace-building rhetoric was not backed up by soldiers' actions on the ground, analysts say that instead of suppressing the violence, rebels took advantage and stepped up attacks.

Human rights abuses -- including detention without charge of Muslim suspects and reports of torture during interrogation -- have also continued, heightening Muslims' mistrust of the government.

Buddhist Thais, meanwhile, feel they have been abandoned by the state.

"They failed to protect the Buddhists and they failed to prove to the Muslims that there can be justice for Muslims, so the Surayud government failed on both sides," said Sunai.

Also hampering efforts to resolve the conflict is its murky nature. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, or made any explicit demands.

"While some in the insurgent community have indicated that they are interested in dialogue with the Thai government, it remains unclear the extent to which they can claim to speak for the vast majority of the insurgency," said Joseph Liow, from Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

Thai army spokesman Colonel Acra Tiproach conceded that the 2007 death toll was high, but said he thought violence would ease in the coming year.

"This year has the highest death toll because they have to counter our aggressive operations," he told AFP.

Others, however, are not so optimistic.

An election on December 23 looks set to return Thaksin's allies in the People Power Party (PPP) to government.

"If PPP come into power and somehow fail to learn the mistake of the Thaksin government, then we might see a bloodier south than it is already," said Sunai.

Dorloh Sengmasu, 56, a Muslim village chief, told AFP he had mortgaged his land to buy weapons to protect himself and the village from rebels.

"I have no hope with government measures. It's already four years, but things get worse day by day," he said.

AFP 

400,000 Copies Now in America's Homes

Order your copy of our "Jihad in America!" pamphlet