BANGKOK: Thailand’s Director-General of Police has said that modern weapons would be rushed to police in Southern Thailand who are short of arms in battling with Muslim nationalists. The Police General was speaking to reporters yesterday [Sept 29] before leaving for Mexico City to attend a police conference.

He said that 50 of the nationalists who demand the secession of Muslim-dominated southern provinces from Thailand had been killed recently in joint operations by police and military forces. The police chief said he had appointed the Police Lieutenant-General, Provincial Police Commissioner, to direct suppression operations against the nationalists.

Reports reaching Bangkok today said police had rounded up 51 suspects in sweeps yesterday in Muslim-populated Yala and Pattani provinces, near the Malaysian border. Police also raided the home of a relative of a well-known nationalist leader in Pattani province and arrested 31 Muslims, the reports said.

The reports added that men leading the insurgents in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces had been identified as Alias Dureh, who had been wanted by the police on insurgency charges since 1948. — Agency

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2019