Thailand: Government-Backed Militias Enflame Violence
Abuses and Impunity Fuels Reprisal Attacks in the South
(London, April 18, 2007) ? The Thai government?s growing reliance on abusive militias for security as it fights a growing insurgency in the southern provinces places civilians at increasing risk, Human Rights Watch said today.
On April 9, government-backed village defense volunteers in Ban Pakdi village of Yala province?s Ban Nang Sta district fired on a crowd of Muslim funeral goers, killing four students and injuring at least five other people. The incident occurred after Unit 4202 of the Army rangers, an army-trained and equipped paramilitary force, fired on a civilian vehicle in Ban Ta Seh village of Yala?s Muang district on March 9, killing Abukari Kasoh, a 15-year-old student, and seriously wounding his brother-in-law, Afandi Pohma.
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