 Reuters Photo |
Posted on 04/30/2004 8:22:18 AM PDT by SlickWillard
BAAN SUSOE, Thailand (Reuters) - The shooting of an entire team of 19 soccer players from the same Muslim village in southern Thailand after they attacked a security checkpoint has left relatives stunned, mystified and outraged.
|
|
Revelations about the soccer team give a disturbing insight into the minds if not the motives of those involved in Wednesday's violence, in which troops shot dead 108 machete and gun-toting militants after coming under attack.
Three days after defending their annual county soccer title, the "All Stars" team of Baan Susoe village near the Malaysian border mounted nine motorcycles and rode 23 km (15 miles) through the night to launch a dawn attack on a security checkpoint.
They planned to steal weapons from the soldiers, local people said, but armed only with machetes against the automatic rifles of Thai troops who had already been tipped off, they didn't stand a chance. Five members of the security forces were killed.
One of the youths, who were all aged between 19 and 26, managed to strike a soldier with his blade. The rest were all shot dead before they even got close.
Relatives of one of the dead, 20-year-old Kamaruding Baeprommi, told Reuters he had had the potential to become a soccer superstar for Thailand's national team.
"He started playing soccer when he was eight and was very good," said Pitaya Baeprommi, Kamaruding's elder brother and head of the village sports club.
"He had the potential to become a national superstar so I encouraged him to go into the army and play soccer. He represented his barracks in an army regional tournament," Pitaya said.
There was no sign that his younger brother, whose 21-year-old wife Koriya Samae was three months pregnant with their first child, would have committed a crime until the eve of the attack, Pitaya said.
"On that night he came home from his wife's with a suitcase and told his mother that he would go on a Dahwah," Pitaya said, referring to an Islamic religious mission.
DRIVEN BY DRUGS, OR ISLAM?
Government officials said tests had shown four of the "All Stars" used a heady mixture of methamphetamine and marijuana before launching the motorcycle raid.
"We also found prayer beads and five commandments written in the Malay dialect, Yawi, in their backpacks," local district official Suvej Taepee, told Reuters.
Four of the 19 men had also been teachers at an Islamic primary school in the village, he said.
Residents acknowledged the "All Stars" might well have smoked marijuana, a habit common throughout the impoverished area, but they described their friends as "local heroes," as dedicated to Islam as they were to soccer.
"This is excessively brutal," said Sutha Lohpanasa, 35, a teacher at a school in a nearby village whose 19-year-old nephew was also among the dead.
"Every single one of them had bullets in their heads. The officers knew nothing about human rights. They were all sharp-shooters," he said.
"My nephew and many of his friends were good lads. His daily life was going to school, praying, and practicing soccer. We knew nothing of his bad behavior."
Kamaruding's new widow, Koriya, was shell-shocked by her husband's death.
"I am devastated. I don't know what to do now. I will stay single and go back and live with my family," she said, fighting back tears.
 A Thai Muslim woman shows a photo of her late husband's soccer team April 30, 2004 in largely Muslim Baan Su Soe village in Songkhla province. The shooting of the entire team after they attacked a security checkpoint has left relatives stunned, mystified and outraged. Revelations about the soccer team give a disturbing insight into the minds if not the motives of those involved in Wednesday's violence, in which troops shot dead 108 machete and gun-toting militants after coming under attack. (Sukree Sukplang/Reuters) |
"Every single one of them had bullets in their heads... They were all sharp-shooters" This seems to be a true statement.
Good work, guys!
How stupid are these people
(Never mind that was rhetorical)
"My nephew and many of his friends were good lads
That's true. All "good lads" grab machetes and go out and kill people. As far as "human rights" go, how about the rights of the police???? Why do the terrorists and media always find fault with the intended victims??
Thankfully; they did know something about 'self-defense', however.
Did their Coach participate? Would want to see his team playbook. . .
Basically, a militant has a weapon and is actively trying to kill women and children while a moderate only helps plan the murders and/or condones them. The one tenth of one percent of mooslims condemning terror are outcasts from the "religion of peace"
Doesn't this rather conflict with the story that nobody knew what the soccer team was up to? I'll bet the whole village knew about it beforehand.
"Moderate" Muslims are the ones who haven't yet picked up arms.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.