Unidentified assailants burn 18 schools, kill 4 soldiers in Thailand
BANGKOK, Thailand: Unidentified assailants set fire to 18 schools and stormed a military armory, killing four soldiers, in almost simultaneous raids in southern Thailand on Sunday, an official said.
Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh told reporters that the attacks in Narathiwat province, which borders Malaysia, were not linked to international terrorism.
Narathiwat is one of four Muslim-majority provinces in Thailand, which is predominantly Buddhist. A former hotbed of an Islamic separatist insurgency, the south has seen an upsurge of attacks on government-linked targets in recent years that has left more than 50 soldiers and policemen dead.
Government officials have described the perpetrators variously as Muslim separatists, bandits and criminals. Sunday's raid at the armory was the most daring in recent months and prompted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to call an emergency meeting of top security officials.
Chavalit said the assailants apparently were aided by someone inside the military camp, where four soldiers guarding the armory were killed and a large number of weapons were stolen.
Thailand's army radio station said two of the soldiers were shot in the head, one had his throat slashed with a knife and the fourth was beaten on the head.
Military spokesman Lt. Gen. Phalangun Krahan said the raiders broke into the armory and took 103 assault rifles. However, the state-run Thai News Agency quoted unidentified sources as saying the attackers fled with 300 assault rifles, 40 pistols and two M-60 machine guns.
Army spokesman Col. Somkhuan Saengpatranet said he cannot confirm the report.
"As this moment we are still checking and do not know the exact number. But initial reports said more than one hundred weapons were stolen,'' Somkhuan told The Associated Press.
He said about 30 people took part in the attack, which occurred at about 1 a.m. (1800 GMT Saturday).
Around the same time other groups set fire to 18 schools, some of which were still burning eight hours later. There were no injuries in the schools.
Government-run secular schools have been targeted in the past because they were seen as anti-Islamic by the separatist militants.
Somkhuan said the army commander has ordered a manhunt and requested Malaysia to seal the border to prevent the attackers from crossing over. - AP
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