Malaysian Visitors Hurt in Narathiwat Roadside Bombing

Two Malaysian tourists were injured when a roadside bomb exploded beside their car in Tak Bai district, Narathiwat, on June 29. The blast damaged the vehicle’s windscreen, bonnet and doors, leaving one occupant with serious wounds to his forehead, hand and leg and the other with injuries to his arm and fingers. Investigators discovered a crater measuring about two metres deep and four metres wide, along with fragments of an explosive hidden inside a red cooking-gas cylinder. Police believe the intended target may have been a Volunteer Defence Corps pickup carrying four officials from Yala to Su-ngai Kolok, which had passed the location moments earlier. Security agencies are investigating whether the bombing was connected to the continuing insurgency in Thailand’s Deep South.