Thai army mistakes Muslim summer courses for terrorist meeting

Khaosod English: A commander of the Thai army has admitted that a military intelligence unit mistakenly identified a summer lesson at an Islamic school in the southern province of Pattani as a terrorist conference. 

The admission came after soldiers raided the religious school, located in the office of Pattani's Central Islamic Committee of Thailand (CICOT), on 14 April. A Muslim cleric told reporters that the soldiers said they received reports that 30 "terrorists" were gathering at the madras to plan new attacks against the authorities in late April, but the school was in fact hosting a lesson for Muslim students on summer vacation. 

The cleric, Waedueramae Mamingi, told reporters on 15 April that he was upset by the "rude" behavior of the soldiers, who reportedly pushed their way into the classrooms and took photos of the staff without permission, though no arrests were made during the raid.

 

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