Free Republic

SNIPPET: "NARATHIWAT, Thailand (Reuters) - Suspected Islamic insurgents shot dead six Buddhist villagers in Thailand's restive south Thursday, police said, the latest attack in the troubled region bordering Malaysia. The villagers in Narathiwat province were believed to have been ambushed, said police Colonel Sanit Suwanno... Ten policemen and soldiers were also wounded when a roadside bomb exploded as they were traveling to the scene of the shootings, police said."

March 8, 2009 PATTANI, Thailand, March 7 (Reuters) - S SNIPPET: "Pattani and the neighbouring provinces of Narathiwat and Yala, abutting Malaysia, were a Muslim sultanate until annexed a century ago by predominantly Buddhist Thailand. Around 80 percent of people there are Muslim and speak a Malay dialect. The violence has ranged from drive-by shootings to bombings and beheadings and often targets Buddhists and Muslims associated with the Thai state, such as police, soldiers, government officials and teachers."

February 26, 2009 Thailand: Jihadists behead three people this week, bringing their total to 47 "Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks..." Qur'an 47:4 They just want Sharia -- as always. "Thailand: More beheadings in troubled Muslim south," from AKI, February 26 (thanks to C. Cantoni): Narathiwat, 26 Feb. (AKI) - Suspected Islamist rebels have decapitated three people in Thailand's Muslim dominated south in the past week, police said on Thursday. Three people were killed late on Wednesday in the southern Thai province of Narathiwat , and one of the victims was decapitated, police said....

Suspected Islamic rebels shot dead two Buddhist women in Thailand's restive Muslim-majority south as the country's army-installed premier began a one-day visit to the region Friday. The victims, aged 17 and 20, were gunned down late Thursday in a drive-by shooting while riding a motorcycle in Narathiwat, one of three violence-torn southern provinces bordering Malaysia, police said. Also in Narathiwat, militants set ablaze an elementary school early Friday, destroying a wooden building, while three Army rangers were hurt when a roadside bomb exploded late Thursday in nearby Yala province.

Suspected Muslim insurgents opened fire on nine Buddhists who were riding in a commuter van in Thailand's restive south Wednesday, killing all of them execution-style... The attack prompted officials to step up security in the south, where a Muslim insurgency has claimed more than 2,000 lives since 2004. Suspected insurgents bombed the van as it slowed into a curve in the road, which they also had blocked with a large tree trunk, said police Lt. Kitti Mankhong, a duty officer in the Yaha district of Yala province, where the attack occurred. Armed with assault rifles, the attackers first shot at...

Muslim villager shot dead 05nov05 A MUSLIM villager has been shot dead by suspected Islamic insurgents in Thailand's restive south while walking home after evening prayers at a mosque, police said today. Leeya Samukama, 27, was killed in an ambush late yesterday in Narthiwat, one of Thailand's violence-plagued southern provinces, they said. The suspected militants also shot and wounded Leeya's friend, Nasuha Ar-ware, 25, who was admitted to hospital, police said, adding they collected several shells from an AK47 assault rifle from the scene. Violence in the three Muslim-majority provinces of mainly Buddhist Thailand has killed more than 1000 people...

Bangkok, 9 Nov. (AKI) - As the violence in Thailand's hree southernmost provinces shows no sign of abating, prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has announced an impending “D-Day” against the rebels. In the last 24 hours, Muslim insurgents have attacked Yala Provincial Hall and a series of other minor targets, while Bangkok has announced the killing of Hasueming Jarong, a leading member of the Pattani Mujahideen, one of the groups fighting for an independent Islamic state comprising Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said that the government has prepared a large scale offensive against the rebels to be launched...

Asaha Dajing, 19, appeared to be thriving at an Islamic college in Yala, 20 miles north of this remote village. He had just won a $125 creative writing scholarship, big money in these parts. His family was proud. But Asaha had friends his parents didn't know about: Islamic radicals who were recruiting impressionable young men for a mysterious holy war here in the jungles of southern Thailand. Asaha's secret life was exposed only by his death. He was killed by police along with 13 other militants April 28 when they staged a suicidal assault on a government office near this...