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Published on August 19, 2007

The Army has assigned all personnel to be on high alert as people in Yala, Narathiwat, Pattani and Songkhla vote on the draft charter, he said.

"Deploying thousands of soldiers for the voting units is to assure voters that they will be safe. Rumours spread by the insurgents that violence will occur on the day of the referendum may prevent people from voting,'' Kasikorn said.

The insurgents may take the opportunity to instigate violence or to counter the authorities' successful and defensive suppression of them in the past three months.

Speaking at the same press briefing, Army spokesman Akara Thiprote said 15,350 soldiers would be deployed at 2,558 voting stations: 772 in Pattani, 483 in Yala, 810 in Narathiwat and 493 in four Songkhla districts - Chana, Saba Yoi, Na Thawi and Muang.

The soldiers will guard the voting stations, the routes over which the ballot boxes will be transported and the routes voters travel to vote. Soldiers will also guard district offices, where the ballot boxes will be kept after the referendum, he said.

Meanwhile, six suspects were arrested in a raid at a village in Saba Yoi district yesterday. The raid came after authorities sealed off the area for about a day.

One of the six detainees, Niloh Asae, is the subject of several arrest warrants for allegedly killing a police sergeant and a district chief.

Items seized in the raid include three handguns, rounds of ammunition and components of explosive devices.

Violence in Narathiwat continued yesterday as the militants ambushed an operational unit at a school in Rusoh district, injuring a lieutenant.

A police squad that rushed to the scene was delayed by spikes the militants had spread on the road.

A police investigation showed that three militants hiding behind dense forest opened fire on the unit. After a brief gunfight, the insurgents managed to escape.

Lieutenant Saravuth Teamharn, 28, was injured by a gunshot to his foot.