ACADEMICS: RAMADAN STATISTICS OF VIOLENCE MAY BE MISLEADING วันพุธ ที่ 14 สิงหาคม 2556 เวลา 11:13 น.ศูนย์ข่าวภาคใต้ สำนักข่าวอิศรา Altogether 23 people, including 11 members of the security force and 12 civilians were killed in 69 violent incidents occurred during the holy month of Ramadan in the deep South, according to the statistics complied by the National Police Office. A breakdown of the death toll is as follows: four policemen, seven army troopers, two teachers, one religious leader and nine ordinary people. Among the deaths was Yacob raimanee, a respectable imam of Pattani provincial mosque who was shot dead in the market by four extremists riding on two motorcycles in Pattani’s downtown on August 5. Also, 82 people were injured during the same period. These included six policemen, 61 army troopers, five teachers, one local leader and nine ordinary people. By comparison with last year’s Ramadan, death toll dropped 28.13 percent and injuries dropped by 4.65 percent. A total of 32 people were killed and 86 injured during the last Ramadan. Most of the violent incidents were bombings and the main target was the security force, especially army troopers, said the NPO citing the various banners hung in different places in the three southernmost provinces and sprayed messages calling for the ouster of troops from the restive region. Fortunately, there was not a single incident of car bomb during the Ramadan from July 10 to August 7. However, some academics pointed out that the drop in the number of casualties and violent incidents was attributable to the ceasefire agreement between the government and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional separatist group which is due to expire on August 18 which coincides with the end of Eid-al-Fitr festival. Dr Panitharn Wattanayakorn, a security expert at Chulalongkorn University, said that he didn’t want the statistics to be made public so soon because it could lead to confusion. He suspected there was pressure from policy makers for the NPO to disclose the statistics which showed that both the violent incidents and casualties had dropped during the Ramadan this year compared to last year’s. The most violent day during the Ramadan was on August 2 when seven bombings, two shootings and 13 arson attacks were reported in Yala, Pattani and Songkhla provinces. Six security personnel were killed and 18 injured and a rubber factory worth over 100 million baht was destroyed in a fire. The rubber factory belong to Sounthern Rubber Company in Yala’s Muang district. About 1,000 tonnes of rubber which were due to be exported to China were destroyed. On Sunday August 11, suspected militants blew up a gas-filling plant in Narathiwat province. It was reported that six suspected militants sneaked into Nara Petroleum gas-filling plant located about two kilometers from Narathiwat’s township at about 2 a.m. They tied up the guards and placed an improvised explosive device beneath gas tank and then detonated the device. The explosion set off a huge fire which inflamed ten other houses in close vicinity. Three people were injured in the incident.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 10:52:36 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015