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HOODED THAI ASSAILANTS SLASH SCHOOL GUARD

By Sutin Wannabovorn
The Associated Press
6/11/2004, 8:55 a.m. ET

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Hooded assailants with assault rifles slashed the throat of a night guard outside a government school in Thailand's Muslim south and seized weapons from other security personnel who were inside, police said Friday.

The guard, Abdulnasae Katoolae, 42, was in serious condition after the attack Thursday night at the school in a rural part of Pattani province, police Lt. Col. Sophon Phansomtrong said.

The assailants were believed to be Muslim separatists who have been blamed for attacks in Pattani and two other southern provinces, Narathiwat and Yala. The provinces are the only Muslim-majority areas in predominantly Buddhist Thailand.

The volunteer guards, drawn from local villages, were supposed to be protecting the school from arson attacks, he said. Dozens of state schools have been set on fire in recent months by the insurgents, and the government has been arming volunteers to help provide security in remote villages.

At least 284 people have been killed in the violence since January, including 107 militants who were shot by security forces April 28.

Most of the other victims have been police, government officials, village leaders and teachers from the Buddhist community.

A separatist movement has simmered for decades in southern Thailand. It died down in the late 1980s following a government amnesty for the militants but resurfaced two years ago and became a serious problem this year after a raid on an army arsenal Jan. 4 that left four soldiers dead.

Thailand's minority Muslims complain of discrimination in jobs and education by the central government, and accuse it of cultural insensitivity.

Sophon said five or six men dressed in military fatigues, their faces covered with hoods, first cut the throat of the guard, a Muslim, outside the school, then barged into a room where five civil defense volunteers were watching television. The attackers tied them up and took away their three shotguns and a pistol, he said.

In the town of Pattani, gunmen in a pickup truck fired an assault rifle at police Sgt. Issamahae Lateh, 42, who was driving a car, causing him to lose control and hit an electrical pole. He suffered serious injuries, a police official said on condition of anonymity.

The official also said two teenagers on a motorcycle drove through a police checkpoint at high speed. While they were being chased by security forces, they dropped a bag that was found to contain two grenades and bomb-making material, he said.

In other attacks Wednesday night, three bombs exploded in Yala province but caused no damage or casualties, police said.