Several Bomb Blasts Reported in South Thailand | 1 Dead, Dozens Injured

Several bombs have gone off in Thailand’s insurgency-plagued south, killing one person and wounding dozens in a new wave of violence.

The military said on Thursday that the blasts were in Pattani, one of three Muslim-majority provinces in largely Buddhist Thailand, near the Malaysian border.

The spokesman said not less than 10 bombs went off in Pattani’s Yaring district, including two at bank cash dispensing machines, wounding 11 policemen.

He explained that a civilian man was killed after being caught in a blast near a hairdressing shop.

Col. Yuthanam Phetmuang, Deputy Spokesman for the Military’s Internal Security Operations Command, said the people causing the trouble wanted to show that they were still active.

He, however, said no group claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the authorities have blamed broadly the insurgent groups.

“The explosions followed multiple gun and bomb attacks this month in neighbouring Narithawat province.

A military official said on condition of anonymity that resistance to central government rule has existed for decades in the area but violence picked up significantly in 2004.

He said more than 6,500 people, including Buddhist monks, teachers, troops and separatist insurgents have been killed since then. (Reuters/NAN)