Nearly 200 Arrested in Crackdown in Muslim South

[Shuggy]

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,2...5005961,00.html

 

NEARLY 200 people have been detained in a crackdown on an insurgency in Thailand's Muslim-majority south, where three Muslims were killed in fresh attacks, officials said today.

 

A 57-year-old village leader was gunned down in Narathiwat province today, after a 55-year-old man was killed late yesterday, police said.

 

In nearby Pattani province, a 27-year-old Muslim man was killed and four others wounded when militants opened fire on a teashop during the night, they added.

 

The latest violence came as the military announced it had detained almost 200 suspected militants since last week.

 

"As of now almost 200 suspects, including six women, are detained for interrogation at a military base," army spokesman Colonel Acra Tiproch said.

 

They were picked up during sweeps of two of the most violent districts in the region, which has seen a surge in violence this year.

 

The region has been under a state of emergency for nearly two years, giving authorities the power to detain suspects for 30 days without charge.

 

More than 2300 people have been killed and thousands wounded in separatist violence that erupted in Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces in January 2004.