| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| Two killed in blasts, gun attack in Thai south |
| 2005-06-13 |
| BANGKOK, June 13 (Reuters) - Militants set off two bombs and ambushed motorists in Thailand's Muslim-majority south on Monday, killing two and wounding four in the latest violence in a region where more than 700 people have been killed in 18 months. One bomb exploded when the garbage truck in which it was hidden drove past Sungai Padi police station in the province of Narathiwat, along the Malaysian border, killing one of the garbage workers and injuring two, police said. A policeman parking his motorcycle near the road was also injured. Two hours earlier, a bomb blew up outside a bank in nearby Waeng district, although nobody was injured, police said. In nearby Pattani province, Buddhist twin brothers were shot with an M-16 while riding their motorcycle home from school, police said. One boy was killed instantly and the other was wounded. The government has imposed martial law in parts of the three southernmost provinces to curb the violence, which first erupted in January 2004 when gunmen raided army barracks and stole 400 assault rifles, including M-16s. Shootings, bombings and arson attacks have since become daily occurrences. However, authorities in the mainly Muslim region, which has a century-long history of often violent opposition to the Buddhist government in Bangkok, appear no closer to bringing an end to the unrest or identifying its masterminds. |
| Posted by:Steve |