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Wednesday, January 26 9:40 AM SGT
Rebel leaders among hospital siege deadAFPTHAILAND yesterday displayed the bodies of 10 Myanmar insurgents killed during a pre-dawn hostage rescue operation to free hundreds of patients, visitors and medical staff trapped in the takeover of a provincial hospital. Two of them were identified as leaders of a tiny group of exiled students opposed to their country's military regime. They had stormed Myanmar's embassy in Bangkok in October and were allowed to escape in exchange for freeing dozens of hostages they held for 26 hours. This time, Thai authorities took a hard line, saying they could not play for time with the lives of hospital patients at stake. No civilians were injured in the pre-dawn, hour-long assault by police commandos and army special forces, ending a 22-hour stalemate. Five police officers were wounded. But the public display of the bodies seemed an attempt to forestall speculation of summary executions. Thai police have occasionally killed violent criminals in cold blood after their capture. The corpses were wrapped in white sheets, so the nature of their wounds could not be discerned. At least six seemed to be bleeding from their heads. The regional police commander, Lieutenant General Anant Heamathanong, said all the hostage-takers had died in fighting and none had been executed. He said nine were killed at the scene and the 10th after fleeing. The takeover has been blamed on a fringe Karen rebel group called God's Army, led by 12-year-old twin brothers believed to have magical powers. But it became clear that a major, and probably commanding, role was played by the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors, which had holed up with God's Army in the Myanmar-Thai border jungles. Spokesmen for the foreign and defence ministries identified two of the dead as members of the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors known only as Johnny and Preeda. One official who took part in the raid said he estimated the dead gunmen ranged in age from their early teens to early 30s. The twin leaders of God's Army, Johnny and Luther Htoo, were not among them and played no apparent role in the takeover. Associated Press
Wednesday, January 26 5:55 PM SGT Thailand defends siege tactics as rebel base falls to MyanmarBANGKOK, Jan 26 (AFP) - Thai leaders on Wednesday angrily denied claims that special forces rounded up Myanmar rebels and executed them one by one after they held 500 hostages for 24 hours in a hospital siege. As civilian and military leaders came under mounting scrutiny over the raid, sources close to the God's Army rebel group behind the siege told AFP its jungle base had fallen to Myanmar's army. The 12-year-old twins Johnny and Luther Htoo who led the opposition guerrillas from the base just inside Myanmar were missing and many people had been killed, he said. In Bangkok, Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and top military officers denied that security forces shot the 10 rebels who took over the hospital Monday in Ratchaburi, west of Bangkok in cold blood. A former hostage told AFP that the rebels were rounded up by Thai special forces who stormed the hospital. "When Thai forces stormed the building, gunmen fired back a few shots but other hostages said they should surrender because they thought they couldn't resist the attack," said Kitiya Kuleenoi, 11. "After the army and police came, they were taken away to another building." A hospital official quoted anonymously by the Bangkok Post said: "They were shot in the head after they had been told to undress and kneel down." Government spokesman Akapol Sorasuchart denied the claims. "We did not sit them down and shoot them," he said. Chuan lashed out at suggestions the hostage takers were unnecessarily killed. "They didn't have time to surrender, the operation was done and finished quickly," he told reporters. "They were holding guns -- if we waited a second you would be asking us why we let Thai forces be killed." Deputy Foreign Minister Sukumbhand Paribatra said that once the use of force had been agreed upon, maximum force should be used. "You don't have time to stop, shake hands and say 'hey do you want to surrender? No?, Oh okay then I will shoot you'." He said at a press conference conducted in English that the guerillas came out fighting and nine were killed in the first minutes of the raid. The 10th was shot in possession of an M-16 rifle. Police said Tuesday that nine guerrillas were killed in gunfights with security forces. A tenth escaped but was later killed after shooting at troops while running away, they said. Clothes which officials said belonged to the rebels and were shown to reporters on Tuesday showed no trace of blood, even though white shrouds in which their bodies were later wrapped were drenched in blood. Reporters on Wednesday managed to see a room in the hospital where some rebels were allegedly killed. The floor was stained with pools of blood. The siege started after a heavy bombardment of God's Army camp at Kamaplaw by Myanmar troops. The base had also reportedly came under fire in recent days by Thai troops. The base fell late Tuesday to Myanmar army troops, said the source, close to the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors (VBSW) which is allied to God's Army. "Many people were killed including women and children," he said. "There were 200 fighters and 100 villagers in the base." The VBSW was behind an earlier hostage drama at the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok last year which ended peacefully when Thai authorities lent them a helicopter to escape to the border. Ten God's Army and VBSW guerrillas were killed on Tuesday after Thai special forces stormed a hospital in Ratchaburi over the Thai border in which they were holding 500 hostages. Five members of God's Army and five VBSW fighters were among the dead, the source said. The VBSW leader, nicknamed "Jonny", had been due to take part in the Ratchaburi raid but was sick and was killed by Myanmar troops at the base, the source said. Myanmar officials in Yangon were not immediately able to confirm the fall of the base. God's Army followers, who have pledged to fight to the death to install democracy in Myanmar, believe their young leaders possess mystical powers. Freed Thai hostages call Myanmar captors polite Young men promised not to hurt anyone 01/26/2000 Associated Press RATCHABURI, Thailand - The Myanmar rebels who took over a Thai hospital were polite young men who promised not to hurt their hostages but had a nerve-racking habit of juggling grenades, one of their freed captives said Tuesday. "I was scared they would drop them and kill us all," said Decha Yuwang. The several hundred people who were trapped at Ratchaburi Provincial Hospital were safe Tuesday after an early-morning rescue by Thai security personnel. All 10 of the captors were killed, and five Thai police were wounded. No hostages were reported hurt. When Mr. Decha and some of his relatives went to register his mother at the hospital's outpatient section early Monday, they unknowingly set themselves up for a harrowing, 22-hour ordeal that would end in a terrifying rescue. On Monday, as Mr. Decha's mother was signing in to get her sore throat examined, 10 men carrying assault rifles and pistols burst in, Mr. Decha said. Some wore masks. Almost all had long hair, and one appeared to be about 15 years old, he said. The gunmen rounded up 80 or 90 people - patients, their families and hospital staff - and moved them to a nearby room. Thai officials identified the gunmen as members of God's Army, a fringe ethnic rebel group from nearby Myanmar's ethnic Karen minority, a fundamentalist Christian group in the predominantly Buddhist country. The group is led by twin 12-year-old boys. The twins, Johnny and Luther Htoo, were not among those who seized the hospital. The gunmen didn't lay a hand on their captives and promised not to hurt them, Mr. Decha said. Around midnight, the darkness and the uncertainty began to grip some people, Mr. Decha recalled. Before dawn, Mr. Decha heard a loud explosion. It was the start of the rescue by Thai forces, who stormed the walled, 6-acre hospital compound. The gunmen told their hostages to stay down as the sounds of battle exploded around them. "I was frozen with fear. The firing was coming from all directions," Mr. Decha said. He said he saw two of his captors shot before he and other hostages crawled from the room and escaped. Relatives of hostages are reflected in the bullet-riddled glass of a Ratchaburi, Thailand, hospital. All 10 gunmen died Tuesday when the building was stormed after a 22-hour standoff. |