SOUTHERN UNREST: Theft triggers terror alert
Published on Apr 1, 2004
1.4 tonnes of explosive stolen from Yala quarry; govt fears bomb attacks during Songkran
Anxiety gripped the Kingdom yesterday after a group of armed, masked men thought to be Islamic militants stole a large quantity of explosives from a quarrying company in Yala on Tuesday night. News of the theft sparked fears of possible terrorist attacks during next week’s Songkran water festival.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra last night called an emergency meeting of the Cabinet members and senior officials involved in security affairs.
Among those attending the meeting at Thaksin’s house were Defence Minister Chettha Thanajaro, Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula, caretaker police chief Gen Sunthorn Saikwan, and armed forces supreme commander Gen Somdhat Attanan.
The premier said earlier while in Lop Buri that he was “deeply concerned” about the theft. He added that he was worried the stolen explosives could be used to create more violence in the South.
About 10 armed men broke into the Manoon Rock Grinding factory on Tuesday night, tied up two elderly security guards and made off with the explosives, authorities said.
At least 1.4 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, 56 sticks of dynamite and 176 detonators were taken in the 20minute raid, they said. The warehouse had been poorly guarded despite repeated statements from authorities that security units in the predominantly Muslim region are on high alert for more attacks against official and civilian positions.
[highlight=yellow:f51aae290a]“With this amount of fertiliser, you could blow up a whole town,”[/highlight:f51aae290a]
said General Pallop Pinmanee, deputy chief of the Internal Security Operations Command.
Interior Minister Bhokin said the government believes that the raiders may use the explosives during the water festival. The festival runs from April 13 to 15 but celebrations stretch over the entire week, from the beginning of one weekend to the end of the next.
Bhokin said the alert covered the southern commercial hub of Hat Yai and the west coast town of Satun, which draw thousands of Malaysian tourists during the festivals.
Abdul Haji Awaesumae, manager of CU Tour in Narathiwat, said an estimated 30,000 Malaysians were planning to visit southern Thailand during the festival.
[highlight=yellow:f51aae290a]CU Tour alone received cancellations from 2,500 customers yesterday, Abdul said.[/highlight:f51aae290a]
The bomb attack in the border town of Sungai Kolok last Saturday marked the first time that a civilian target had come under attack. At least 28 people – 10 of whom were Malaysian nationals – were wounded.
The theft of 1.4 tonnes of ammonium nitrate has prompted fear among security agencies and the public that more “soft targets” could come under attack.
The Bali bombers used 1.5 tonnes in their attack on a disco, killing 202 people and flattening an entire block of the popular Indonesian tourist destination in late 2002.
MajGeneral Thani Thawidsri, deputy commissioner for the Ninth Police Region, which oversees the South, said the police believed the gunmen who raided the quarrying company were from the same group responsible for the ongoing violence in the region.
The southernmost provinces have come under a wave of violent attacks since an Army camp in Narathiwat was stormed in January. The attackers, widely believed to be Muslim separatists, made off with more than 300 weapons. Since then a spate of attacks and killings have resulted in the death of nearly 60 people, most of them police officers.
Yala governor Boonyasit Suwanarat said a new regulation on the distribution and use of ammonium nitrate and dynamite, used for exploding rocks by mining and quarrying companies, will be imposed.
Adding to the problems faced by police is a lack of trust between the local Muslim community and government officials, especially the police, Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisang said.
Residents of the region see the police as part of the problem and have accused them of abduction and using oppressive tactics.
There are about 500 separatist insurgents active in the area and their goal is to become a force of 3,000, Pallop said, citing an intelligence report.
[highlight=yellow:f51aae290a]The insurgents have as many as 70,000 sympathisers, or about 3 to 5 per cent of the region’s 1.6 million people, he added.[/highlight:f51aae290a]
