I södra Thailand finns tre provinser, Yala, Narathiwat och Pattani, där majoriteten av befolkningen är muslimsk.
På senare tid har närmast urskillningslöst våld från islamister mot civilbefolkningen i dessa provinser skärpt motsättningar mellan muslimer och buddister. Buddistmunkar har dödats, och även moderata muslimska ledare. Den thailändska militären har valt en mjukare linje alltsedan regimskiftet, men den verkar inte fungera. Inga krav har ställts från terroristerna, utan syftet tycka för närvarande vara att skärpa motsättningar och att utföra etnisk rensning. Bland muslimer har gummiarbetare, byledare och lärare attackerats.
Human Rights Watch counted more than 6,000 violent incidents over the
past three years. It said that more than 60 teachers and 10 students
had been killed and 110 schools — the most visible signs of central
government authority in many places — had been set ablaze.
Jag har en stark känsla av att islamisterna i denna region är tränade och indoktrinerade utifrån.
A new policy of conciliation pursued by Thailand's junta since it took power in a coup five months ago has been met by increased violence, including a barrage of 28 coordinated bombings in the south that killed or injured about 60 people a week ago.
"The momentum of violence is now beyond the control of government policy," said Srisompob Jitpiromsri, a political scientist at Prince of Songkhla University here.
"The separatists can pick and choose the time and place of the violence without any effective resistance," he said. "They have the upper hand."
...
The two religions had coexisted through the years, although often in
separate villages. Observers say this mutual tolerance is breaking down
and there are fears of a sectarian conflict that could flare out of
control.
"Buddhist monks have been hacked to death, clubbed to death, bombed
and burned to death," said Sunai Phasuk, a political analyst with the
Human Rights Watch monitoring group. "This has never happened before.
This is a new aspect of violence in the south."
Läs mer:
Muslim insurgency stokes fear in southern Thailand - International Herald Tribune
