Muslims Mark Anniversary of Mosque Shootout

April 28, 2005

Source: Reuters

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/BKK252360.htm

On April 28, 2005 Reuters reported, "Thai Muslims gathered in a historic mosque in the restive south on Thursday and prayed for 32 men killed by troops a year ago after they refused to surrender.

Some 150 people living around the Krue Se mosque prayed for peace in the largely Muslim region where more than 600 people have been killed since violence erupted in January last year.

'We are very sorry that people had to die here,' said Abdul Naser, 40, who ran a grocery near the mosque.

'It was an overreaction by troops, which we don't really want to talk about,' he told Reuters after an afternoon prayer, marking the first anniversary of the shootout.

The three-hour firefight at the 17th century mosque, 5 km (3 miles) from the centre of the provincial town of Pattani, capped a day of bloodshed across the mainly Muslim southern provinces in which 106 people were killed."