Death toll in Thailand’s south hits record low

IRENE SANTIAGO, Government Implementing Panel for the Bangsamoro Peace Accords chair BANGKOK: The death toll this year from an insurgency in Thailand’s Muslim-majority southern provinces was the lowest since the conflict began 13 years ago, monitors said yesterday, as security improves under the ruling junta.

Thailand’s southernmost provinces abutting Malaysia have been in the grip of a lowlevel but bloody insurgency since 2004 and nearly 7,000 people have died.

The majority of the victims are civilians, both Muslim and Buddhist, caught up in near-daily bomb attacks and shootings.

Some 235 people died this year as a result of clashes between the Muslim-Malay insurgents and Thai troops and police, according to figures collected by conflict analysts Deep South Watch.

That compares with 309 last year, continuing a downward trend since 2014 and a sharp drop on the peak of 892 deaths in 2007.

“We have seen the incidents go down in the past three years. And this year’s death toll is the lowest ever if no significant incidents happen in the coming days,” a Deep South Watch spokesman said.

Thailand, which colonised the culturally distinct south roughly a century ago, has for decades been confronted by ethnic Malay fighters seeking more autonomy, but the conflict flared up into its bloodiest phase in 2004.

Rights groups have accused both the insurgents and security forces of widespread human rights abuses.

The junta, which seized power in 2014, has continued peace talks, but they appear to have made little headway. AFP