Two dozens of bombs exploded at entertainment facilities,
schools, government buildings, gas stations and power plants late
Sunday in Thailand's four southern provinces of Songkhla, Pattani,
Narathiwat and Yala, causing many people injured.
At about 19:00 p.m. local time (1200 GMT), several bombs were
triggered by suspected insurgents at karaoke bars in Hat Yai, the
economic hub of Songkhla. Many important places in Songkhla were
also burnt.
Meanwhile, in nearby Narathiwat, at least one person was killed
and 10 were wounded in blasts at five karaoke bars in the border
town of Sungai Kolok, police radio said. Local schools and mosques
in Narathiwat were also burnt.
Almost at the same time, more than 10 bombs were triggered in
nearby Yala Province. At least 23 people were wounded in and around
Yala's provincial capital, according to a witness at the main
hospital. Local officials ordered Yala residents to stay home to
avoid more bomb attacks during night.
In Pattani, police Radio said Pattani's provincial capital fell
dark after a bomb knocked out a power station.
Local reports said five minutes after the blackout in the
Pattani, teenagers on motorcycles, wearing black and white scarfs
went on a rampage on streets. There were reportedly ambushes
government offices and several residences in many districts. One
house was burnt down in Yaring district. One suspect was arrested
in Sai Buri district.
Prachet Sukkeaw, the governor of local power authority, said the
power supply will be resumed before Monday dawn.
Insurgents also shot police and military officials and blocked
routes in the three southern provinces.
Initial details were sketchy. But Gen. Akon Tiperojn, the
director of public relations department of Thai Southern
Military-Police Headquarter, said at least three were confirmed
dead and more than 70 others were injured during the coordinated
bombings and shootings.
Local police and military have set up dozens of check points in
the southern area to hunt the suspects.
Gen. Surayud Chulanont, the prime minister installed by military
after last year's coup, said on Sunday night that he was closely
monitoring the situation in the South, but till now, it was not
necessary to impose more strict ban on the South.
No immediate emergent meeting on southern security was called on
by the government after the bombings.
More than 1,900 people have died in the deep South, comprising
Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces, over the past three years
where a long-simmering separatist struggle has escalated into a
major security problem for Thailand.
Thailand on Friday agreed to allow neighboring Malaysia to play
a mediator role in setting up negotiations with the various groups
behind the mounting campaign of terror against the region's
non-Muslim population.
More than 80 percent of the 2 million people living in Thailand'
s deep South are Muslim of ethnic Malay decent, with closer
cultural affinities with neighboring Malaysia than with the
predominantly Buddhist Thai state.
A separatist struggle has simmered in the three-province region
for the past five to six decades, fueled by the local population's
sense of religious and cultural alienation from predominantly
Buddhist Thailand.
The movement took a more militant turn in January 2004 after
Muslim militants attacked an army arms depot and stole 300
rifles.
(Xinhua News Agency via AP February 19, 2007)
