Insurgent attacks in South left one dead, a dozen injured

At least one was killed and over twenty were injured after a series of insurgent attacks in southern provinces.

Bombs blasted at over ten places in Yala's night entertainment venues as well as an electricity-generating plant in Pattani. Electricity has been out for over an hour.

Insurgents also shot police and military officials and blocked routes in the province.

Many important places in Songkhla were also burnt while schools and mosques in Narathiwat were burnt.

The Nation

INSURGENTS ON THE RAMPAGE

Blasts, arson rock South

At least two killed, 29 injured as attacks centre on bars, petrol stations; most of Pattani province plunged into darkness

A string of coordinated bombings and arson attacks hit more than 30 targets, including a power plant, in the southernmost provinces last night, causing a widespread blackout and killing at least three people, security officials said.

At least two people were killed and 29 injured in the Betong and Muang districts of Yala in a series of raids that also targeted karaoke bars and petrol stations.

Yala was the worst affected province in the latest violence, said army spokesman Col Akara Thiproj, as 24 bomb blasts spread chaos and confusion around the province.

Other bombings and arson attacks took place in Pattani, Narathiwat and Songkhla provin-ces, police said.

In Pattani a bomb struck a power plant in the Muang district at about 7pm leaving most of the province in darkness. The police and military were attacked in other districts but the police reported no casualties.

In Narathiwat, six bomb attacks hit various targets, including a karaoke bar in Sungai Kolok district at 8.45pm. One man was killed and about 20 injured in the incidents. Arson attacks were also reported at schools and a mosque in the province's Sungai Padi and Rusoh districts, officials said.

In Songkhla, a number of arson attacks took place in Jana, Na Tawee and Saba Yoi districts. Details about property damage and casualties were unknown, police said.

Among the targets hit by last night's Yala blasts were the My Way and Wang Mai karaoke bars, two petrol stations and the Coliseum department store.

Earlier yesterday, two bombs were discovered in toilets at a busy department store in Yala's Betong district. They were defused.

Cleaners at the Betong Plaza department store on Sukayang Road found the packages that each contained three kilograms of explosives.

A bomb team from the Betong border patrol took 10 minutes to defuse the bombs.

The explosives were placed in tin boxes and would have been detonated using a digital wristwatch.

Investigators believe the thwarted attacks were the work of insurgents and were carried out in response to the earlier arrests of four suspects in connection with a string of bombings at banks on August 31 last year.

Army Commander-in-Chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin said last night security officials had received intelligence reports more attacks were imminent in the four southernmost provinces but could not immediately pinpoint the targets.

Sonthi said he has ordered additional troop deployment for the areas hit by the bomb attacks and their vicinity but still saw no need to declare a curfew or a state of emergency.

The Nation

Death toll hits nine in Thai separatist attacks

YALA - The death toll in coordinated separatist attacks that have rocked Thailand's Muslim south has risen to nine after a 32-year-old man succumbed to his injuries, officials said Monday.

Three people were killed in shootings and six others in bombings during 12 hours of violence across the region along Thailand's southern border with Malaysia, provincial officials told AFP.

The latest victim was a 32-year-old Thai Muslim, who died in hospital on Monday of injuries suffered in one of the blasts, police said.

Another 44 people were injured in the spree of shootings, bombings and arson attacks that began late Sunday and continued early Monday with a fresh bomb blast, the officials said.

At least 24 people remained in hospital, they added.

Agence France-Presse

On Chinese New Year in the South of Thailand terrorists had their go again: nine dead so far and around 5o injured in more than 50 bomb attacks. See the topic in the subforum "Violence in the South": http://talk-thailand.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=1654
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