45 state schools closed in South
Authorities yesterday announced that 35 public schools in Bannang Sata and 10 in Than To districts would be closed until next week as security officials launched a thorough sweep through this violence-prone area.
Prasit Meksuwan, a member of the Teachers Federation of Yala, confirmed the closure saying the schools should be reopened by Monday. More than 200 public schools have come under arson attacks since January 2004 and the number of teachers being targeted have been on the rise. Bannang Sata is one of the most violent districts in the three Muslim-majority southernmost provinces. Assoc Professor Srisompob Jitpiromsri, from Prince of Songkhla University's Pattani campus, said that since January 2004 the region had witnessed 6,850 violent incidents related to the ongoing insurgency. At least 2,303 people have been killed and more than 6,000 injured in that time, he said. Separately, in Pattani's Yarang district, a Border Patrol policeman was shot dead in a drive-by shooting. Pol Sr Sgt-Maj Boontham Thavornsin was murdered by a gunman in front of a school in the district. His wife survived the attack. A 100-strong combined force raided Pattani's Muang district and Yarang district and detained three suspects for further questioning. Police found two home-made bombs, ammunition and a shotgun in Nuradin Hasa's home in Yarang district. In Muang district, Da-o Mamu and his son, Wae-arong were taken into custody for interrogation over some explosive materials found at their residence. Meanwhile, Foreign Minis-try spokesman Tharit Jarung-wat said the sheikh of Al-Azhar University, Muhammad Say-yid Tantawi, and the secretary-general of the World Muslim League, Abdullah Ibn Abdul Muhsin Atturki, would visit Thailand later this month. Abdullah will visit Pattani to meet Muslim leaders in the region. The Nation Yala
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