Peace talk approaches, insurgency erupts in Thailand

BANGKOK, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Apart from daily attacks, insurgency in Thai deep South apeeared to be more intense on Monday as next round of peace talks between Thai authority and leading insurgent group approaches.

On Monday, banners against the peace dialogue were found in several locations in Thailand's three insurgent-plagued provinces, Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala, along with explosion and attacks which killed two soldiers and injured one another.

The banners, appearing in dozens of districts, were written in Malay language. Thai News Agency reported that the messages were expression of disapproval of the peace dialogue between Thailand National Security Council and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the main insurgent group which NSC invited to the talk.

The next peace dialogue is scheduled to be held in the Malaysian capital on April 29. The first round was concluded late March with little progress.

Meanwhile, two explosions occurred in the deep South. In Narathiwat, Army Lt Kraisak Rodkarnthuk was wounded in a bomb blast Monday morning while supervising a bomb squad unit collecting banners in Sungai Padi district.

Later in the afternoon, four soldiers were killed and several others were seriously wounded after a bomb went-off in a Marine camp in Narathiwat's Bacho district.

Meanwhile, NSC Secretary-General Lt-Gen Paradorn Pattanatabut said Monday that the recent insurgent attacks and the anti-peace talks banners were the work of other insurgent groups to prove their existence and who might want to join the upcoming peace talks.

Gen Paradorn said officials are coordinating with other insurgent groups in case they want to be part of the peace process.

"There might be more bombings until the next peace talk is held but will remain in restricted areas," Thai News Agency quoted the NSC chief as saying.

More than 5,000 people have been killed and more than 9,000 hurt in over 11,000 incidents, about 3.5 incidents a day, in Thailand's Muslim, ethnic-Malay dominated three southern border provinces -- Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and four districts of Songkhla -- since violence erupted in January 2004, according to Deep South Watch, which monitors the regional violence.

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