BANGKOK (Bernama): Thailand has temporarily suspended peace talks with the southern insurgent group, originally scheduled for September in Malaysia, following last week's deadly attack in Narathiwat that killed five rangers.
Director of the National Intelligence Agency Thanat Suwannanont said the dialogue process had initially progressed well before the attack prompted authorities to reassess the situation.
"There will be no negotiations in September. We had arranged the meeting in advance, but then the incident happened. The violence was too severe for us to accept. We were in the middle of talks when this happened."
"Although the fighters may have acted according to their instincts, we had already begun the dialogue process. Once violence occurs, we have to start all over again," he told reporters on Tuesday.
Thanat, who also heads Thailand's Southern Border Provinces Peace Dialogue Panel, said the government had sent a letter to the insurgent group seeking an explanation for the attack, which occurred while the peace process was under way.
He added that Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul had consistently emphasised that dialogue remained one of the key long-term approaches to resolving the conflict in Thailand's southern border provinces, rather than serving as a short-term response to individual incidents.
"Negotiations must proceed according to an established process and require time," he said.
Last Wednesday, six masked assailants dressed in dark clothing opened fire and hurled pipe bombs at a security checkpoint at about 6.45 pm local time in Ban Bukit Sami, Rangae district, Narathiwat province, killing five rangers and injuring six civilians, including a three-year-old girl.
Following the attack, Thailand imposed Martial Law in 13 districts of Narathiwat to facilitate the manhunt for the suspects and strengthen security measures in the restive southern province.
Meanwhile, the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) Region 4 said in a statement that the Narathiwat Provincial Court had issued arrest warrants for two suspects believed to have been involved in the attack.
ISOC said the suspects, aged 45 and 43, had been identified by investigators as being linked to the armed assault on July 22.
"They are charged with jointly committing acts of terrorism, premeditated murder of a government official, armed robbery resulting in death, as well as offences involving firearms and explosives," the statement said.
ISOC added that the operation to apprehend the suspects was ongoing, with the military authorised to establish roadblocks across Narathiwat at any time if intelligence indicated the suspects were in the area. -- Bernama
