Sunday, August 1, 2004
Five injured in Thailand blast
Indo-Asian News Service Bangkok, August 1
Five people were injured in a bomb explosion in southern Thailand, Xinhua reports. The incident occurred outside a policeman's house at Sungakolok city in Narathiwat province on Saturday evening, sources said.
The bomb, hidden under a bench outside the house, was detonated by remote control when the policeman was walking towards it.
The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital. Four of them are said to be in a serious condition, said a police source.
Home to most of Thailand's Muslim population, the area witnessed a separatism movement that died out in the late 1980s. Since then sporadic violence created by local gangsters grouped with remaining separatists has been a common occurrence.
Since the outbreak of violence January 4, over 70 policemen have been killed or wounded by separatist militants in these parts of the country.
© HT Media Ltd. 2004.