Attackers behead 2 soldiers in southern Thailand

[Coventina]

Source: Associated Press

PATTANI, Thailand (AP) — Suspected Muslim insurgents ambushed a military convoy and beheaded two soldiers in southern Thailand on Friday in the second such attack this month, police said.

More than 20 gunmen armed with automatic rifles ambushed a group of five pairs of soldiers traveling on motorcycles after they finished escorting teachers to school in Yala province, said police Col. Somphien Phuwaphongphitak.

An Islamic separatist insurgency in Thailand's three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat has led to the deaths of more than 3,300 people since early 2004. More than 30 people, both Buddhist and Muslim, have been beheaded since the violence began.

Somphien said a 10-minute gunbattle broke out after the ambush, and the teams of soldiers became separated. Later, the bodies of the two soldiers were found with their heads cut off.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5guauYLE276BD0kT3niXlvoHEqYawD96FANS00

[marshall]

1. Is there something in the Koran about beheading?

I wonder why that's the execution of choice. It just seems to messy and strenuous.

[acmavm]

2. I know. You have to wonder if the leader isn't the Queen of Hearts.

'Off with their heads!'

<snip>The Queen of Hearts is a character from the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by the writer and mathematician Lewis Carroll. She is a foul-tempered monarch, that Carroll himself pictured as "a blind fury", and who is quick to decree death sentences at the slightest offense. Her most famous line, one which she repeats often, is "Off with their heads!"


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_Hearts_(Alice's_Adventures_in_Wonderland)

[aquamarina]

3. I was just thinking the same thing. What is it about the beheading?

[nomorenomore08]

4. Gotta go with a classic, I suppose...

:hide:

On a somewhat related note, I remember reading an article where they interviewed a guy who works as an executioner in Saudi Arabia - and yes, beheading with a sword is still the preferred method. He seemed to indicate that he enjoyed his job, and didn't have any particular moral qualms about it. Kind of spooky...

[daleo]

5. In Europe, it used to be considered preferable to hanging or shooting

Beheading was reserved for the aristocracy, while the rabble were hanged. The social meanings of executions can vary from culture to culture and from time to time.