Emergency decree may soon be lifted in four districts in Deep South
There is a likelihood that the government may lift emergency decree in some areas of the three southernmost provinces before or shortly after the New Year.
Deputy Interior Minister Thaworn Sienniam said recently that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva would soon call a meeting of security authorities concerned to discuss whether emergency decree which has been enforced in the deep South for five and a half years should be lifted in certain areas namely Betong district of Yala, Mae Larn district of Pattani and Narathiwat’s Waeng and Sukhirin districts where situation has improved.
He noted that violent incidents in the four afore-mentioned districts had decreased substantially. But he, however, said that the frequency of violent incidents was not the crucial criterion to determine whether the emergency decree should be lifted or not.
The Democrat minister disclosed that a recent survey of the opinions of the people in the strife-torn region showed that 54 of them were satisfied with the performance of the government in addressing various problems in the region. The number of violent incidents which averaged more than 1,000 incidents a year in the past several years has now subsided to less than 1,000.
Mr Thaworn said he was confident that the political approach adopted by the government to address the security-related problems in the deep South was the right approach.
The deputy interior minister is scheduled to leave for Northern Ireland on December 16 to study the way the British and Irish governments had adopted to resolve the bloody conflict in Northern Ireland.
He said he had studied conflict resolutions in ten countries and found that, in all the cases, the conflicts were resolved by political means.
Regarding the lifting of emergency decree in certain areas in the deep South, Mr Thaworn said that the final decision rests with the prime minister. But once the decree is lifted, it will be replaced by the 2009 National Security Act.
Menwhile, seven government officials were killed and four wounded by suspected militants in the deep South during the first nine days of December. One school in Mayor district of Pattani was also torched and completely destroyed.
On December 9, unknown number of assailants believed to be militants shot to death Mr Apinan Jehmasalae, assistant kamnan of Tambon Lammai, Muang district of Yala province, at the house of his wife in Yaha district.
Also on the same night, suspected militants opened fire with automatic rifles at two brothers, Mr Mahama and Mr Suriya Karee-uma, members of the village defence force, as they were talking in front of their house in Raman district of Yala. Both were killed at the scene and the assailants managed to snatch away Mr Suriya’s service pistol.
On December 7, suspected militants detonated a bomb and opened fire at an eight-man army unit tasked with providing protection to teachers in Rue So district of Narathiwat. Four members of the squad were wounded with bomb shrapnels and gunshots.
Also on the same day in Mae Larn district of Pattani, four suspected militants riding on two motorcycles shot dead Mr Nirat Promdam, assistant village head in Tambon Muang Tia, and seriously injured another man, Mr Chalerm Rattanasorn, as they were dredging a road to lay water mains with a small Backhoe.
On Monday December 6, two suspected militants riding on a motorbike shot and killed two paramilitary rangers, Mr Kampol Luedej and Mr Somros Markboon, as they were walking in Ban Ya Ning market. One innocent shopper, Ms Rusleena Yakoh, was also injured.
On December 5, about 10 suspected insurgents torched the two-storey building of Ban Sakam school in Mayor district of Pattani after some of them opened fire into the air with their automatic weapons to scare away about 10 school employees and security guards.
On December 1, Mr Romlee Aryee, an assistant village head in Tambon Marue Bo-ok, Cho-I-Rong district of Narathiwat, by two suspected militants as he was riding a motorbike to tend to his cattle herd at a rubber plantation.
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Captions : The violence in deep South