Threat Video Tells Non-Muslims to Leave Thailand’s Deep South

In a video posted to Facebook on Monday (March 2), a self-proclaimed mujahideen fighter vows to expel non-Muslims by force from Thailand’s Deep South region, which he calls “Patani Darussalam”.

In the video, shared online under the user name “The Truth”, a masked man identifying himself as Kusai demands that the Thai government pull its forces out of the region’s three provinces and release all political prisoners.

Videotaped threat

BenarNews

The 1:49-minute video is believed to have been recorded on a cellphone. It opens with an Arabic chant and continues in a mixture of Thai and Malay.

“My name is Kusai of the Mujahideen Rebat al-Fatani. In accordance with Allah’s command and Prophet Muhammad’s advice, we will expel the intruding non-Muslims (Kafir) in order to fully establish Darussalam,” the speaker says.

He also calls on all Muslims working for the “government of the intruder” to quit their jobs and all non-Muslims to emigrate from the region or pay tax to Patani Darussalam instead.

By Tuesday, the video had generated more than 100,000 views and nearly 5,000 shares.

Thai security officials, however, said the clip was the work of only one man and that his so-called Mujahideen Rebat al-Fatani had nothing to do with the Deep South’s main separatist groups: the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the Barisan Islam Pembebasan Patani (BIPP) and the Pattani United Liberation Organization (Pulo).

Officials cited a message posted by a BIPP member on Facebook that rejected the existence of Mujahideen Rebat al-Fatani and denied any connection between it and the BIPP.

Nonetheless, the video’s release is a development that should be taken seriously, a Thai lawmaker said.

“I’m concerned over the release of the video message because during these days the Islamic State (IS) ideology has been spread widely and countries around Thailand are affected,” Anusart Suwanmongkol, a member of the National Legislative Assembly, told BenarNews.   

Attacks in Pattani Reported

Since 2004, an insurgency in Thailand’s Muslim-dominated southernmost provinces that border Malaysia has killed more than 6,300 people – mostly civilians – according to AFP.

There was more violence Tuesday as nine people were injured in two attacks in Khok Pho district, Pattani province.

In the first attack, two people were shot and wounded in tambon Tha Rua, the Bangkok Post reported. The victims, identified as Sawai Sriklin, 43, and Chalee Sripan, 38, were taken to a local hospital, according to the newspaper.

The second attack took place soon after when a bomb went off in the same area, injuring seven people. A police officer and a local security volunteer were among those injured in the second incident.