YALA, Thailand – Two powerful bombs detonated by suspected Muslim
insurgents killed two paramilitary rangers and wounded nine in separate attacks
in southern Thailand on Saturday, police said, the latest unrest in the troubled
region bordering Malaysia.
One bomb wounded four rangers who were patrolling in a pickup truck in Yala,
one of Thailand's southernmost provinces that have been plagued by violence
since a separatist rebellion resurfaced seven years ago.
A second bomb exploded just 1 km (0.6 mile) from the first attack, killing
two rangers and wounding five.
The attacks coincided with a visit by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to the
nearby province of Narathiwat to chair a meeting on development strategy for the
southern provinces.
The violence has killed more than 4,500 people in the three southernmost
provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat since a decades-old separatist
rebellion against the Thai state resurfaced in January 2004.
The number of attacks has increased in recent months in what security
analysts say could be a response to government claims that its public relations
campaigns were helping to contain the unrest. Reuters
