Khmer National Unity Front

The Khmer National Unity Front (KNUF), also known as the Tiger Liberation Movement and Tiger Head Movement or Khmer National Liberation Front, is a Cambodia-based domestic terrorist group whose objective is to violently oust Vietnamese influence from within the Cambodian government. The KNUF was founded by Sok Ek and receives its "Tiger" nicknames from its symbol, which features three tiger heads. Like the Cambodian Freedom Fighters, the KNUF is reportedly dependent on foreign aid. The group is blamed for two foiled bomb attacks against the Cambodian government's:

Khmer National Unity Front
KNUF
LeadersSom Ek (AKA Ti To)
Reach Samnang
Sam Serey
Dates of operation2007-Present
Headquarters Phnom Penh and Bangkok
Active regions Phnom Penh (alleged)
IdeologyAnticommunism
Aristocracy
Conservatism
Monarchism
Khmer nationalism
Social conservatism
StatusInactive
Allies FUNCINPEC (alleged)
Opponents

Royal Cambodian Army
Royal Gendarmerie of Cambodia

Cambodian National Police

KNUF Membership and arrests

The KNUF is based in Cambodia's Mondulkiri Province and is composed of six to nine armed criminals. Four alleged members were recently arrested and are awaiting trial:[3]

  • Som Ek (also known as Ti To[4]), KNUF founder and former Khmer People's National Liberation Front member. He is a dual Thai-Cambodian citizen.
  • Reach Samnang, former Deputy Police Chief for the Mondulkiri province
  • Lek Bunnhean
  • Phy Savong

Another KNUF member, was arrested in mid-2007 and is serving a prison sentence at the Prey Sar Prison.

In 2012 were founded the Khmer National Liberation Front, and the cambodian authorities claims that this group is related with the Tiger Liberation Movement.[5][6] The 23th October of 2014, ten militants were arrested in Phnom Penh, accusing to be members of the group. Human rights groups criticized the arrest unjustified and that the detainees were probably not part of any paramilitary group.The Unhcr condemned the use securiyforces and unofficial security guards to arrest and detain anti government activists, human rights defenders and other kind of activists.[7][8] In February 2015 the political branch of the group tried to form a government in exile in Denmark.[9][10][11]

The founder of the actual KNLF Sam Serey was arrested on 26 April 2018 in Bangkok, taken from the Cambodian government and considered a terrorist besides investigating by an alleged plot to make an attack during Khmer New Year in 2016. Approximately twenty followers of the group were arrested since 2016[12][13] On 2 October 2018 eight people were arrested for trafficking illegal firearms, weapons that would be used in an alleged armed uprising. The eight people were arrested in three separate operations in the provinces of Kampong Speu, Kampot and Pursat.[14][15] The 31th march of 2020 a total of 14 militants were sentenced to two to nine years in prison for being part of an armed organizations.[16]

Public disbelief

Mondulkiri provincial Governor Lay Sokha and the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces denounce the KNUF and are currently searching out its members. The human rights organization ADHOC, on the other hand, has only heard of the criminals without any "Tiger" references. Cambodian Representative Yim Sovann dismisses the KNUF's existence as "ridiculous"[17] and merely a government scare-factor technique.

Since December 2018 the group has sought to legitimize as a political party, registering with the electoral roll, a move which has been well received by the current government, and give them green light for his registry. With this registry the actual members hope that the current KNUF prisoners have an amnesty process or shorter sentences.[18][19][20] But some more radical members see as a process of submission, that the group abandon the "armed campaign", and the government. The government rejected a request by the leader of the KNLF, Sam Serey, to be allowed to form a legitimate political party and return to Cambodia to participate in politics.[21][22]

References
  1. "Interior Ministry releases dossier of evidence outlining alleged KNLF bombing 'plot'". The Pnohm Penh Post. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  2. Phnom Penh Post, Bomb plot mastermind faces court today: police
  3. Phnom Penh Post, Terrorism charges in bomb plot
  4. The Earth Times, Four Cambodian men charged in failed bomb plots
  5. "What is the Khmer National Liberation Front?". Khmer Times. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  6. "Khmer National Liberation Front". Khmer National Liberation Front website. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  7. "Cambodia: Harassment, arrest, and detention of human rights defenders continue". Ref World-UNHCR. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  8. "Cambodian Police Arrest 10 Over 'Plot to Topple Government'". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  9. "Khmer National Liberation Front Leader Returning to Denmark After Thai Visa Issue". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  10. "KNLF Plots Formation of Government in Exile". Khmer Times. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  11. "KNLF claims a 'deception'". Phnom Pen Post. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  12. "KNLF founder Sam Serey, deemed a 'terrorist' by gov't, detained in Thailand". Nation Thailand. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  13. "KNLF founder Sam Serey flown to Denmark after arrest in Thailand". Phnom Pen Post. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  14. "Two suspected KNLF members arrested". Khmer Time. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  15. "Eight charged over failed coup". Khmer Times. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
  16. "13 KNLF members jailed over plot to overthrow government". Khmer Times. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
  17. Phnom Penh Post, Govt to investigate 'tiger head' group in relation to bomb plot
  18. "KNLF gets 'green light' to register new party". Phnom Pen Post. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  19. "Government: KNLF party move 'welcomed 100%'". Phnom Pen Post. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  20. "KNLF gets 'green light' to register new party". Phnom Pen Post. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  21. "Government rejects Serey's 'impossible' request". Phnom Pen Post. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  22. "Serey slams Rainsy for lying 'again and again'". Phnom Pen Post. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
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