PATTANI, Thailand, 1 May 2004 — Arabic language pamphlets calling for the creation of a separate homeland were found on the bodies of some of the 108 militants killed in battles with security forces this week, police said yesterday.
“This is the evidence that they are fighting for a separate land on religious lines,” said police Gen. Kovit Wattana, who yesterday was appointed the chief investigator into Wednesday’s killings.
Meanwhile, Gen. Kitti Rattanchaya, the government’s top security adviser for southern Thailand, where the killings occurred, said hundreds of militants remain at large and are ready to fight and sacrifice themselves after having trained in Thailand and overseas.
He didn’t say where such training might have taken place. But Thailand has in the past claimed that some insurgents have sheltered in neighboring Malaysia.
A total of 108 suspected militants — mostly young men wielding machetes — were killed Wednesday when they tried to steal weapons from police and army posts in pre-dawn raids. Wattana did not say how many bodies were found with the pamphlets.
Tipped off in advance, security forces used overwhelming firepower against the attackers and only three policemen and two soldiers were killed, leading to accusations of excessive force. Police have defended their actions.
“The militants had clear intention to stock up fire arms for their separatist operations,” said national police chief Gen. Sunthorn Kraikwan.
He said an investigation, including the interrogation of 17 militants arrested Wednesday, would lead to the masterminds of the violence.
