At least 17 arson attacks and bombings rock southern Thailand

Officials said on Wednesday that a wave of arson and bombing attacks hit Thailand's southernmost provinces overnight, which have been the site of an active Muslim separatist insurgency for nearly two decades.

According to military spokesman Pramote Promin, at least 17 attacks occurred on Tuesday night in Pattani, Narathiwat, and Yala provinces, mostly at convenience stores and gas stations. Three civilians were reported injured. There have been no claims of responsibility.

Since the insurgency began in 2004, more than 7,300 people have been killed in the three provinces, which are the only ones in Buddhist-dominated Thailand with Muslim majorities. Attacks have also occurred in neighbouring Songkhla province.

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Muslim residents in Thailand have long complained that they are treated as second-class citizens, and separatist movements have been active on and off for decades. Heavy-handed repression has fueled the unrest.

The attacks are the most high-profile since the Thai government and BRN—Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani, believed to be the largest of several insurgent groups—agreed to a cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in early April. In other recent violence, two Thai army ordnance experts on duty were killed later that month by a bomb.

According to Pramote, the attackers "dressed up as women, used motorcycles, and, in many cases, threw petrol bombs into the target sites" on Tuesday night.

Captain Sarayuth Kotchawong of the Yala Police Department said he received a report shortly before midnight that a suspect had entered a convenience store at a petrol station in Yala's Yaha district, placed a black bag inside, and warned employees to leave if they "did not want to die." The workers left 10 minutes before the bag exploded.

What is Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani?

The Malaysian Barisan Revolusi Patani is an Islamist Patani independence movement in northern Malaysia and Patani, southern Thailand. It is also known by the abbreviation Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), which means "National Revolutionary Front." It is the mostdangerous terror group in the region as of 2017.

The BRN was founded as a roughly territorial organisation that prioritised Pattani secessionism. However, since 2001, the BRN-C (BRN-Coordinasi) has become its most active wing, leading the insurgency in southern Thailand and imposing extreme religious values on local society.

The BRN-C, through its paramilitary wing "Pejuang Kemerdekaan Patani," is the main group responsible for the murder of teachers in the Southern Border Provinces.

(With inputs from agencies)

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