At least 84 dead in Thai clashes 

 
PATTANI, Thailand : At least 84 Thai Muslims died -- mainly from suffocation
in the back of security force trucks -- after police and troops broke up a
violent demonstration in the kingdom's troubled south, Thai officials said.

Most of the victims died while being taken into custody after officials used
water cannon and tear gas to break up the protest Monday outside a police
station in Narathiwat province.


Six were confirmed dead from the clashes on Monday and more than 1,000
demonstrators were arrested.

"After we brought people who were arrested into detention, we found that
another 78 people were dead," Manit Suthaporn of the justice ministry told
reporters.

"According to the investigation of the dead bodies, they died because of
suffocation."

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, speaking before the announcement of the
extra 78 deaths, said the protesters were weak because of fasting during the
holy month of Ramadan which started on October 15.

"It is normal that their bodies could not handle it. It is not about someone
attacking them," Thaksin told reporters.

The protests were sparked by the arrest of six Muslim men accused of handing
guns to rebels in Muslim-majority southern Thailand where an insurgency has
now killed 409 people this year. Thai police said some of the crowd tried to
storm the police station.

Rights activists have previously accused the authorities of heavy-handed
tactics in the south, including the storming of a mosque that left 32 Muslim
militants dead during a one-day uprising in April.

The insurgency in the south of mainly Buddhist Thailand has continued
sporadically for decades and sparked into life again in January with a raid
on an army depot.

Thai forensic scientist Pornthip Rojansunan told a press conference in
Pattani that 80 percent of the victims died because they could not breathe.

"We didn't find any dead bodies with broken arms or legs, but between two or
three of them had broken necks which may have been caused from the
transportation," she said.

Abdul Rahman Abdul Samed, the top Muslim official in Narathiwat, told AFP he
feared the incident could spark a violent reaction.

"I am concerned that the incident yesterday will escalate the tension in the
south and some groups may try to do something about taking revenge," he
said.

A member of Thailand's state-backed human rights commission also warned
earlier of worsening violence and said the break up of the demonstration was
"clearly a violation of people's rights".

"We are concerned that the situation will get worse as families of people
who died and were injured may not understand the actions of the
authorities," said Amporn Meesuk.

Police said the situation was under control on Tuesday morning after the
biggest clash between authorities and disaffected Muslims since a day-long
uprising in April left 113 people dead.

During the Monday clashes more than 1,000 security forces were brought in to
confront angry crowds.

Soldiers were ordered to fire above the heads of demonstrators, some of whom
were said by police to have used weapons, as some tried to storm the police
station. The six detained had already reportedly been moved elsewhere.

Thaksin made an emergency trip to the area but returned to Bangkok Monday
night and was chairing a scheduled cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula, who joined him on the trip, told
reporters in Bangkok early Tuesday the demonstrators were Thai Muslims who
"don't respect the law and their religion. They made trouble while
authorities tried to do everything to stop it".

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid said in Kuala Lumpur that the flare-up
across the border in Thailand was a "matter of concern".

Authorities have bolstered security on the borders to prevent suspected
militants crossing the border into Malaysia.

- AFP