| Patani Malayu National Revolutionary Front Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani ขบวนการแนวร่วมปฏิวัติแห่งชาติมลายูปัตตานี | |
|---|---|
 Flag of the Patani Malayu National Revolutionary Front[note 1] | |
| Leader | Hassan Taib, Masae Useng, Sapaeng Basoe, Abdullah Munir, Dulloh Waeman (Ustadz Loh), Abroseh Parehruepoh, Abdulkanin Kalupang, Isma-ae Toyalong, Arduenan Mama, Bororting Binbuerheng and Yusuf Rayalong (Ustadz Ismae-ae), among others. |
| Active regions | Greater Pattani,Thailand |
| Ideology | Pattani separatism (formerly) Jihadism Malay nationalism |
| Notable attacks | South Thailand insurgency |
TheBarisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani,[1][2] also known by the shorter formBarisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN;English:Patani Malays (or Malayu) National Revolutionary Front)), meaning "National Revolutionary Front", is an IslamistPatani independence movement in northernMalaysia (Perak,Perlis,Kedah andKelantan) andPatani, southernThailand. As of 2017, it is the most powerful rebel organization of the country.
Originally the BRN was established as a roughly territorial organisation, prioritizing Pattanisecessionism. Since 2001, however, the BRN-C(BRN-Coordinasi) has become its most active wing, leading thesouth Thailand insurgency and imposing extreme religious values on the local society.[3]
The BRN-C, through its "Pejuang Kemerdekaan Patani" paramilitary wing, is the main group behind the murder of teachers in the Southern Border Provinces.[4]
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The BRN was founded on 13 March 1963 byHaji Abdul Karim Hassan. By 1984, three main factions were discernible within the group:[5]
TheBRN-Coordinate orBRN-C(BRN-Koordinasi) is currently the largest, most active and best organised of the BRN subgroups. Rejecting thePan-Arab socialist thought that influenced the early BRN, it favoursSalafist ideology and is involved in political activism in the mosques andindoctrination atIslamic schools. The main recruiting unit of the BRN-C is thePemuda (youth) student group and its leaders are mainly Islamic religious teachers, including veterans of theSoviet–Afghan War.[3]
The BRN-Koordinasi is acknowledged as the group currently spearheading the insurgency in southern Thailand and is at the origin of the group known asRunda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK) to which most violent attacks have been attributed in the last decade.[3]
The BRN-C sees no reason for negotiations and is against talks with other insurgent groups. The BRN-C has the vision of becoming a mass-organisation. It has as its immediate aim to make southern Thailand ungovernable, having largely been successful at it.[6]
ThePejuang Kemerdekaan Patani (Patani Independence Fighters) are the paramilitary wing of the BRN-C. These militant units operate in the rural areas of southern Thailand working along with the BRN-Coordinate leadership in a loosely organised strictlyclandestine cell system dependent on hard-line religious leaders for direction.[7][8] They are also behind the attacks on schoolteachers.[9]
The group's violent separatist insurgency began in 2004, with tactics such as setting two bombs at one location, with the second designed to kill and injure those attending the aftermath of the first. In total, the southern insurgency has killed more than 6,000 people.[10]
In January 2020, the Thai Peace Dialogue Panel, led by General Wanlop Rugsanaoh, met with BRN representative Anas Abdulrahman inKuala Lumpur, in what was described as "the first round of official peace dialogue" by BRN official Abdul Aziz Jabal.[11] The two sides reportedly agreed on a framework for further negotiations.[11][12]
In the past decade, the BRN-C has been involved in numerous arson, bombing, and murder attacks to create an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty in the three southern provinces of Thailand.Thai military observers believe that the attacks are mostly carried out by its loosely affiliated and clandestineRKK outfit.[13][14]
On 1 May 2013, insurgents attacked a restaurant in the Pattani Region. The perpetrators, armed with machine guns, killed six people including a two-year-old child.[15] The act was an act of revenge, that appeared twelve hours following the action in the three predominantly Muslim provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala.[16]
In 2013 and 2014, the UN received reports that the BRN and other armed groups had recruited boys and girls from the age of 14;[17][18] children were given military training and assigned as combatants, informants and scouts.[18] No such reports were recorded by the UN in 2015 or 2016.[19][20]
