PATTANI, Thailand — Police gunned down machete-wielding militants who stormed security outposts in Thailand’s Muslim-dominated south yesterday, leaving at least 112 persons dead in one of the bloodiest days in the Southeast Asian kingdom.
The attackers were mostly teenagers — some wearing red headbands — and were intent on stealing weapons. They were poorly armed and apparently unaware that police had been tipped off and were lying in wait for them.
The eight hours of mayhem ended when police fired tear gas and rocket-propelled grenades into a mosque, killing 32 militants who, witnesses said, were sheltering inside after running away from an earlier battle.
“Maybe the insurgents underestimated the preparedness of security forces. They used machetes to steal guns and when we fought back they suffered big losses,” said Boonyasit Suwanarat, governor of Thailand’s Yala province, one of the regions where the violence erupted.
It was the worst violence in a region that has seen dozens of people killed in near-daily attacks this year. The government has blamed Islamist separatists seeking for decades to carve out a homeland in the Muslim-majority south of this predominantly Buddhist country.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the killings would halt the simmering separatist struggle in the Muslim-dominated south.
“After this, it will be hard for them to do these kinds of bad things again,” Mr. Thaksin said.
The raids were linked to a Jan. 4 attack on a military camp in the nearby province of Narathiwat, which triggered a surge of violence in the area this year, Mr. Thaksin said. Four soldiers were killed and hundreds of guns stolen in that raid.
“The masterminds of this movement were in such high spirits after they raided the army camp, and they believed that they could do it again. But they were wrong,” Mr. Thaksin said.
He denied the attackers had connections to international terrorists, saying that most were youths from the southern provinces.
The attacks began before dawn, when insurgents stormed more than 15 police bases, village defense posts and district offices in a bid to steal weapons, said Lt. Gen. Proong Bunphandung, the chief of police for the south.
However, security forces had been tipped off and were waiting for the assailants, most of whom carried only machetes, Gen. Proong said.
Television news reports showed the bodies of insurgents lying in pools of blood, some of them in front of police stations clasping machetes and wearing camouflage.
Gunfire could be heard in the background as armored personnel carriers drove down deserted village streets and commandos ran through the forest. Policemen and soldiers, carrying automatic rifles, ran across streets and ditches.
Army chief Gen. Chaiyasith Shinawatra said 107 insurgents were killed and 17 were arrested. He said three policemen and two soldiers also had been killed.
No group claimed responsibility for the coordinated assault.
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