Wider World by CS

0,000 named in insurgency handbook

Key far South networks, names, suspects detailed

Almost 10,000 people, including politicians, school heads and local religious leaders, have been named as part of the southern insurgency network in a newly launched army handbook.

Sapae-ing: Reward offered for arrest

The blacklisted names are listed in two books which together are called The Order of Battle.
The first handbook explains the structure of the insurgency network, which includes separatists, the older movements in the region and others linked to the insurgency.
The second handbook identifies the names of leaders and their forces in each village, tambon and district of Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and in four districts of Songkhla. The 500-page book lists 9,692 people as being involved in the insurgency network.
Of these, 4,116 are in Narathiwat, 3,183 in Pattani, 2,059 in Yala and 334 in Songkhla's four districts.
There are outstanding arrest warrants for 866 of these people.
"The number of leaders and their people are increasing by the hundreds, totalling more than 10,000 people now. The handbooks will be updated annually," an army source said.
The handbooks say the insurgency network has a core organisation, called DPP-Dewan Pimpinan Usat (board of a political party at the national level), consisting of 20 figures.
Some politicians at the local and national level, several religious leaders and heads of religious private schools are members of this core group, the source said.
The book, however, does not specify the name of the DPP chairman.
Intelligence authorities had previously suggested that Sapae-ing Basor, a former head of a ponoh school, is the organisation's chairman. But he is instead listed in the book as the secretary-general of the DPP.
The Department of Special Investigation will give a 10 million baht cash reward to anyone providing information leading to the arrest of Mr Sapae-ing.
He faces an arrest warrant on charges of being a separatist and a terrorist, and also treason charges, which can result in the death penalty.
The book explains the DPP has set up various functions, including an advisory council (Ulahma), an economic division, militants, youth forces and a public relations arm.
The group has also divided its administrative regions.
The first is in Yala and Narathiwat's Rueso district, the second in Narathiwat and Yala's Raman district, and the third in Pattani and Songkhla's four districts.
"There are several separatist factions now," the army source said.
"They also compete among themselves to play a key role in the organisation."
Several factions - including the Pattani United Liberation Organisation, or Pulo, Barisan Islam Pembebasan Pattani and Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) - have joined together under the name of Bersatu, aiming to overtake BRN Coordinate, another key faction, the source said.
Meanwhile, an insurgent was shot dead in a clash with a joint police-military unit in Yala's Raman district, police said.
After receiving a tip-off from villagers about five armed men hiding in a house in the middle of a rubber plantation at Ban Kalor, the joint security force surrounded the targeted house about 6.25am.
They told the armed men hiding inside to show themselves, but the men ran out of the house and fired at the security team with war weapons, police said.
The police and soldiers fired back.
After a firefight lasting about 10 minutes, police found the body of Abdulloh Lasi, 30, a resident of Ban Tamnob in Raman.
An M16 assault rifle was lying near him, police said.
Duroning Lijiag, identified as another militant, was wounded in the fight.
The other three men managed to escape.