Car bomb injures 17 in southern Thailand

[News_Editor]

Car bomb injures 17 in southern Thailand

2011-02-13 22:16:07 GMT+7 (ICT)

YALA, THAILAND (BNO NEWS) -- A car bomb exploded Sunday in the troubled southern province of Yala in Thailand injuring 17 people, including three officials, MCOT Online news reported.



The bomb exploded when a pickup truck carrying soldiers passed the scene, damaging 12 shophouses, 10 motorcycles and two pickup trucks, according to a preliminary police investigation.
 It is assumed that they were remote-controlled bombs weighing about 20 kilograms hidden in three small gas cylinders.

Defense Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan said that the attack may result from a recent arrest of suspected insurgents during a raid in a mountain range.



On Friday, two alleged members of a Muslim insurgent group were shot dead in two separate gunfights with local soldiers in restive Narathiwat, while three others including a police officer were gunned down in a single day. Additionally, a series of attacks took place in the region on the same day.

Claims that the deep South, a majority Muslim area including Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces, are gaining peace and stability have been met with new attacks. In January 2004, Muslim militants raided a military arms depot, killing five soldiers and making off with 350 semi-automatic rifles. Over 4,000 people have died and more than 7,000 others have been injured in the past 6 years
 since Thailand's army launched a series of attacks on the separatists.



-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-02-13

[webfact]

Car bomb injures 18 in Thai south: police

YALA (AFP) - A car bomb exploded Sunday in a city in Thailand's insurgency-plagued far south, injuring 18 people, including four soldiers, police said.

The blast outside a bank started a large fire that swept through nearby shops in Yala, the main city in one of three provinces near the Malaysian border that have been under emergency rule since 2005.

"There was a bomb hidden in a fire extinguisher in a pick-up truck parked in front of a grocery shop near Siam City Bank," a local police officer said.

Of the casualties, four were seriously wounded, including three of the soldiers, authorities said.

Shadowy Islamic insurgents have waged a violent campaign in Thailand's southernmost region since early 2004, leaving more than 4,400 people dead, including both Muslims and Buddhists, in near-daily attacks.

Violence appears to have intensified recently: a bomb attack in Yala province killed nine villagers last month and an unusually bold attack by militants a week earlier on a military base left at least four soldiers dead.

On Thursday three people, including a teacher, were shot dead and their bodies burned in neighbouring Pattani province, in one of a series of gun attacks in the region last week.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-02-14

[tonglen]

Nice to see that religion has, once again been a positive force for peace in this and other regions.

Its also nice to see the religious leaders of ALL faiths stand up and condemn religious intolerance, wars, violence and disunity.

Too much sarcasm?