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FOCUS-Gunmen seize Thai
hospital, threaten violence
12:23 a.m. Jan 24, 2000 Eastern By Sutin Wannabovorn RATCHABURI, Thailand, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Gunmen from a Myanmar guerrilla splinter group led by 12-year-old twins stormed a Thai hospital on Monday and took about 200 medical staff and patients hostage, Thai officials said. A member of the armed Thai security forces who ringed the hospital at Ratchaburi, about 120 km west (75 miles) of Bangkok, said the attackers threatened to harm hostages if the 300-400 armed Thai police and security personnel came too close. The attackers, members of the ``God's Army'' rebel group, demanded doctors and nurses treat guerrillas wounded in Myanmar government attacks on their base just across the border in Myanmar and that the rebels be allowed to move freely at the border, Thai Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart said. God's Army is a band of about 100 Christian fighters based inside Myanmar opposite Ratchaburi grouping ethnic guerrillas, former Myanmar students and child soldiers. It is led by 12-year-old twins Johnny and Luther Htoo. The group broke away from the mainstream Karen National Union guerrillas who have fought for greater autonomy from the Myanmar central government for over 50 years. Witnesses said about 10 attackers fired repeated volleys of shots after storming the 770-bed hospital but it was unclear if there were any casualties. Police said about 200 staff and patients were trapped in the hospital, the main medical facility for Ratchaburi province. According to hospital data, at the weekend there were 560 patients at the hospital, which employs 70 doctors, but witnesses said the attackers appeared to control only the emergency ward in the compound, which has many other buildings. A doctor who worked in the hospital told local radio that only about 75-80 percent of the hospital beds were occupied. Provincial governor Komain Daengthongdee quoted the gunmen as saying they had planted a bomb near the hospital entrance. Thai television Channel Seven said the attackers had released some very old and young patients. A senior police officer who entered the hospital to negotiate was greeted by warning shots, but later allowed in. He was shown on television talking with a armed man in a balaclava helmet. He came out to say the attackers had asked for 15 food packets and went back to continue talks. A terrified hospital employee trapped in her car in the compound called a television station to ask for help. ``I'm here with my husband,'' she said. ``If we get out of the car they'll see us -- they fired so many shots before the police got here.'' MINISTER VOWS TOUGH RESPONSE Interior Minister Sanan, appointed by the government to direct negotiations, vowed a tough response. ``Firstly I have ordered security forces to protect the lives of the hospital staff and the patients,'' he told local radio. ``I have also told them to take tough action against the attackers.'' The provincial governor said that since the hospital was close to administrative offices in the town he had ordered their evacuation and that of nearby schools. Police said the armed group had hijacked a bus near the Myanmar border to drive to the hospital. They quoted the driver as saying that the raiders were from God's Army. Local MP Wichet Kasemthongsri told local radio the group had been involved in clashes with Myanmar troops in the past few days and fled into Thailand. He said they had shot and killed some Thais when they crossed the border, but gave no details. Many relatives waited anxiously for news of family members trapped in the hospital and witnesses also said they heard attackers shouting their demands for doctors. In early October, five armed Myanmar dissidents who seized the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok for 25 hours and took hostages sought refuge with God's Army after being allowed safe passage to the border by the Thai authorities. Sanan said then that the embassy attackers were not terrorists but radical student activists fighting for democracy. Ratchaburi province is also home to a holding centre for dissident students who fled military rule in Myanmar. The Ratchaburi centre is administered by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. A UNHCR spokesman said it was too early to comment on the hospital seizure and who was responsible. The Myanmar embassy attack was carried out in similar fashion to the current siege. It was punctuated by frequent bursts of gunfire by the attackers but no casualties. After that, Thai authorities ordered Myanmar dissident students to register with the UNHCR for resettlement in countries other than Thailand. The move raised tensions at Ratchaburi holding centre due to a big increase in numbers of people living there and restrictions placed on their movements by the authorities. |