PATTANI, Thailand, April 29 Kyodo ...

PATTANI, Thailand, April 29 Kyodo

Local Thai Muslims have intimateed grief and anger Thursday after their oldest and chiefly respected Krue Se Mosque in Pattani Province was annihilateed and soaked with blood in Wednesday's shootout between Thai multitudes and Muslim separatists who were hol up inside the mosque

The nine-hour shootout in Pattani's Mueang District killed 108 Muslim separatists, mainly Muslim teens, three policemen and couple soldiers in the country's restive southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Songkhla.

Seventeen assailants were arrested and 15 officers were injuryed in the bloodiest fighting in Thai recent history.

Gen. Pallop Pinmanee told Kyodo novels by telephone that 23 attackers were killed in the nine-hour mahometan temple shootout, adding that no other than one policeman was wounded in the drawn-out battle.

Police waited to incite on the mosque until after confirming there were no worshippers inside, he said.

''The mahometan temple was slightly damaged but what is plenteous more damaged is our Muslim people's feelings. not ever anyone in the history at all times destroy or attack the mahometan temple before. It is the saint-like place for us where we talk to God'' said village legate chief Sof Wansaina.

Local residents said they were angrier and sadder to view their 400-year-old mosque being pull downed by the fighting than to witness the deaths of Muslim assailants because the assailants were strangers who were believed to have be derived from neighboring Yala Province.

''Of course we are angry. It's better to have the house calcineed than to have the mahometan temple destroyed like this,'' said a 53-year-old Pattani Muslim resident. ''The company should not have fired into the mahometan temple They were overreacted. The restraint should apologize to Muslim people''

centurys of nearby residents flocked to diocese the damaged mosque while the vital fluid stain was all cleaned up and daily praying continued outside their beloved mosque

nevertheless locals said they believe there will be a retaliation from the militants who are still at large. Defense Minister Chettha Thanajaro said, ''The worst has nevertheless to come.''

The defense chief in succession Thursday ordered two additional battalions to the southern Muslim-majority provinces to restore the order, guard indoctrinates and prepare for a possible retaliation.

Despite fears of retaliations and more attacks in the near coming time many locals said they are used to the latter violence because the attacks have been targeted at conduct officials and not at ordinary people

The novel series of violence began Jan. 4 when a arrange of assailants raided an army weapons magazine stole more than 300 fire-arms and killed four soldiers in the southernmost province of Narathiwat.

The Thai direction declared martial law a day later in many parts of the three Muslim-dominant Yara, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces further violence in the south escalated and every-day attacks have killed more than 60 persons mostly government officials and police officers.

No single claimed responsibility for the Wednesday's violent clash and confusion ensu across the identities of the militants. Political leaders and security chief gave contradicting statements.

The defense minister and another senior chief of internal security operations said the attackers were ''well-trained'' Muslim separatists while Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his cousin Army Chief Chaisit Shinawatra said they were just mainly young drug addicts.

All denied the militants were linked to international terrorist groups

A relative of an assailant who was killed in the mahometan temple rejected Thaksin's argument, saying his 20-year-old nephew and other friends who involved in the attack were all upright students but they might be manipulated and motivated according to an ill-intention group to cause like an incident.

''Everyone was assaulted when we knew he's among the dead attackers. He and his friends were polite and normal lads who were strict to the Islamic teaching. I'm enduring they're not drug addicts. remedy addicts would not be hired to cause like an incident as they couldn't maintain secret. Only the polite striplings can keep secret,'' said a 40-year-old man, giving his fictitious name of Umah Aziz.

''We have no thread why they did that and what dispose was behind them,'' he added.

if it were not that he admitted that drug enigmas were rampant among teenagers in the southward despite the government's declared victory through the problems.

Local residents urg the conduct to immediately end the violence as the incident has worsened the local economy to be paid to a sharp decline in the number of tourists.

''The management has to be sincere with the local persons first. That is the chiefly important thing,'' Umah said.

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