Thursday, April 20, 2017

Thailand: 2 Terrorists blow themselves up during a night of attacks

(Bangkok)  Southern Thailand suffered 13 terrorist attacks last night, injuring 8 people which targeted police stations and checkpoints in 12 separate districts in Muslim-majority provinces in Thailand's deep south. The night also saw 2 terrorists blow themselves up whilst they took part in the above.

Buddhist Thailand has been in the grip of a Islamic separatist insurgency for years. Around 7,000 people have been killed since the conflict flared in 2004. The terrorists regularly carry out bombings and drive-by shootings of civilians and officials. Their aim is to cede the southern Muslimmajority south from Thailand and form their own Islamic state. Funny enough they demand that Islamic neighbour ‘Malaysia’ is allowed to act as guarantor.

It was the second major set of coordinated attacks in two weeks. On April 7, terrorists set off dozens of bombs in southern Thailand, bringing down power lines and setting tires on fire to block roads, but causing no deaths or injuries. The spike in violence appears to be in response to the Thai government's rejection of a conditional offer for peace talks made this month by the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) which isn’t even involved in the peace talks with the Thai Government.