Thailand - Violence is on the rise in Thailand‘s restive south, killing close to 3,000 people since 2004. As the conflict enters its fifth year, little is known about the groups involved in the insurgency.
Violence has periodically flared in Thailand‘s restive south, killing close to 3,000 people since 2004. Killings have become more and more brutal as insurgents behead and burn their victims, often abandoning charred bodies in the streets.
Although Thailand is mainly a Buddhist country, Muslims account for 80% of the population in the three southern provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala. Buddhists, a minority in the region, live under constant fear of shootings and bomb attacks.
Muslims in Thailand complain that the Thai government tried to impose Thai language and culture on the region, which is mainly Muslim and ethnic Malay.
As the insurgency enters its fifth year, little is known about the people or groups involved in the attacks.
The region was once an autonomous Malay sultanate but was annexed by Thailand a century ago, giving rise to separatist violence.
Source: www.france24.com (26 Maret 2008)