Emergency law extended by another 3 months

In the wake of frequent insurgent attacks, the emergency decree will be extended for the 27th time in the deep South by another three months from March 20 to June 19.
Meanwhile, insurgents in Narathiwat launched raids on two security outposts, wounding 12 soldiers. These attacks were well planned, similar to a successful raid on an outpost in January 2011, which killed a captain and two other soldiers.
The Cabinet is scheduled to review the extension next Tuesday and is likely to approve it, Deputy Prime Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapha said yesterday.
One district in Pattani and four Yawi-speaking districts in Songkhla will also remain under a special security law.
“Although the number of incidents has dropped, the level of violence remains high,” he explained.
After June 19, an evaluation of the military’s success and the number of violent incidents will be used to determine if the security measures should be further extended or lifted in some areas, he said.
In the latest attacks in Narathiwat, the first was launched on a Marine base at around 12.30am on Thursday and the second nearby on a command post located in a waterworks office. The attackers used assault rifles and M-79 launchers in both attacks.
A relief force assigned to both outposts spent two hours clearing spikes and trees felled to block entrances. The force also wasted time trying to destroy two home-made bombs left tied to power poles. The insurgents had already destroyed the power poles and streetlights to darken the area between the two outposts.
Narathiwat’s deputy police chief Pol Colonel Nanthadej Yoinual said the attacks were well planned and coordinated in a manner similar to the raid on January 19, 2011, on an outpost of Narathiwat Taskforce 38 – which saw four soldiers, including Captain Krit Khampheerayan, being killed and many assault rifles stolen.
There were no details about which outposts the 12 wounded soldiers belong to, though Yuthasak said the insurgents had attacked the first outpost because they wanted to steal the Marines’ assault rifles.
Asked if such well-coordinated attacks had become frequent recently because the insurgents wanted the deep South to become a special administrative area, Yuthasak said it was possible though he did not know how long the process would take. He had ordered a study into it last week.