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Security forces on full alert, says Yutthasak
Deputy Prime Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa has warned of the possibility of violent flare-ups in the deep South during a planned visit by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation early next month.
The deputy premier said he was afraid more violent incidents were being plotted to be carried out during the OIC visit on May 8-11 to draw attention from the organisation.
In this regard, he said, he had already warned security forces working in the southern region to stay alert for any possible signs of violence during that period.
Gen Yutthasak, however, said he had not received any information about who the OIC delegation would visit and talk to and whether or not the team would visit violence-plagued areas in the South. The OIC team's planned visit was aimed at compiling information about the violence in southern Thailand ahead of its next meeting, said Gen Yutthasak.
The southern unrest is an internal issue, so it should be resolved by the country itself and not with any help from outsiders, he said, adding that the government would never let the OIC step in to directly handle the southern unrest.
There would also be another body that has been working on the conflicts in the Philippines paying a visit to Thailand to observe the southern violence, Gen Yutthasak said.
This committee too would simply observe the southern situation and then return to the Philippines to carry out its main task there, he said.
In Narathiwat, two civilians were killed in a drive-by shooting carried out on a road in Bacho district early yesterday morning.
The dead were identified as Paphai Khongthong, 57, and Suk Daengkhwan, 63, who both lived in tambon Sai Thong.
The two men were travelling in a pickup truck on their way to a fresh market in Sai Buri district in neighbouring Pattani province when the attackers fired at them from another pickup truck, police said. More than 20 M16 used rifle cartridges were found scattered on the road, police said.
Meanwhile, a special Senate committee on the southern unrest has sent a letter dated April 12 to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra informing her about its recommendation to set up an independent panel with the authority to handle conflicts in the South and restore peace in the region, a parliamentary source said.
The proposed committee would work mainly through means of conducting dialogue and that was seen as a bid to pave the way for holding official talks with the southern insurgent groups, the source said. Ms Yingluck, however, had not yet responded to the recommendation, the same source said.
Deputy Prime Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa has warned of the possibility of violent flare-ups in the deep South during a planned visit by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation early next month.
The deputy premier said he was afraid more violent incidents were being plotted to be carried out during the OIC visit on May 8-11 to draw attention from the organisation.
In this regard, he said, he had already warned security forces working in the southern region to stay alert for any possible signs of violence during that period.
Gen Yutthasak, however, said he had not received any information about who the OIC delegation would visit and talk to and whether or not the team would visit violence-plagued areas in the South. The OIC team's planned visit was aimed at compiling information about the violence in southern Thailand ahead of its next meeting, said Gen Yutthasak.
The southern unrest is an internal issue, so it should be resolved by the country itself and not with any help from outsiders, he said, adding that the government would never let the OIC step in to directly handle the southern unrest.
There would also be another body that has been working on the conflicts in the Philippines paying a visit to Thailand to observe the southern violence, Gen Yutthasak said.
This committee too would simply observe the southern situation and then return to the Philippines to carry out its main task there, he said.
In Narathiwat, two civilians were killed in a drive-by shooting carried out on a road in Bacho district early yesterday morning.
The dead were identified as Paphai Khongthong, 57, and Suk Daengkhwan, 63, who both lived in tambon Sai Thong.
The two men were travelling in a pickup truck on their way to a fresh market in Sai Buri district in neighbouring Pattani province when the attackers fired at them from another pickup truck, police said. More than 20 M16 used rifle cartridges were found scattered on the road, police said.
Meanwhile, a special Senate committee on the southern unrest has sent a letter dated April 12 to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra informing her about its recommendation to set up an independent panel with the authority to handle conflicts in the South and restore peace in the region, a parliamentary source said.
The proposed committee would work mainly through means of conducting dialogue and that was seen as a bid to pave the way for holding official talks with the southern insurgent groups, the source said. Ms Yingluck, however, had not yet responded to the recommendation, the same source said.
