Security Forces Kill Over 100 Militants in Muslim South

April 29, 2004

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48573-2004Apr28.html?referrer=email

On April 29, 2004 The Washington Post reported, "Thai security forces repulsed a coordinated attack by scores of Islamic fighters against police posts in three provinces on Wednesday, killing at least 107 of the fighters in an attempt to quell a simmering insurgency in the Muslim-majority south, authorities reported. The assault began before dawn, police said, when the fighters, many of them teenagers armed with guns, knives and machetes, raided about 15 posts only to discover that police had been tipped to the attack and were waiting with superior firepower. The fighting continued for much of the day until Thai security forces with tear gas, assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades launched a counterattack against a four-century-old mosque where many retreating militants had holed up. More than 30 fighters were killed in that one confrontation, according to security officials. Five members of the security forces were killed in the battles, officials said."