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Published on August 4, 2007

At about 1.15pm, two men on a motorcycle fired M-16 assault rifles into the office of the Taseh Tambon Administration Organisation. A quarter-hour later four rangers on a pickup truck were on their way to the site when the device exploded.

The two wounded rangers were identified as Thaveep Kaemanee and Thanu Maseng; the civilian victim was Prathai Intraskul.

The attack is believed to have been part of a wave of violence that erupted in the predominantly Muslim region

in the beginning of 2004 and has killed more than 2,300 people.

Security authorities believe that their Southern Protection Operation, which has rounded up hundreds of suspected insurgents over the past weeks, has shaken up insurgent movements in the region and the ongoing violence is merely a reaction.

However, the Youth

Muslim Association of Thailand (YMAT) does not subscribe to that line of reasoning, saying the mass arrests may push villagers to side with the militants as they are not receiving justice from the government.

The raids and detentions have created a climate of distrust in the local populace, YMAT president Mimanase Sama-aree said.

"The mass arrests do not really ease the situation as the government says; violence is taking many forms and getting fiercer," he said.

The Internal Security Operations Command has instructed all authorities not to use violence during interrogation of suspects.

"As reported in the media, some officials tortured suspects during questioning. Such action spoils officials' reputations and creates mistrust in the justice system," said the order seen by The Nation.

"The militants could use such information to discredit the government because of bad treatment of suspects," it

said.

The Working Group on Justice for Peace is investigating the case of one of the suspects who appeared to have been tortured to death.

On June 27 at 5am Yaga Pa-omani was apprehended at his home while sleeping with his family and taken away by a large group of soldiers in 10 Army vehicles.

Two days later Yaga's family was told to pick up his remains from Yala Central Hospital. Yaga's corpse showed signs that he had been tortured.