Author:
Publication: BBC News
Date: August 26, 2004
URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3600236.stm
A bomb hidden in a motorcycle has
exploded in a market place in southern Thailand, killing one person and
injuring at least 25, some critically.
The blast in Sukhirin, in the mainly
Muslim province of Narathiwat, comes a day before a scheduled visit by
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Soldiers, police officers and schoolchildren
were among the injured.
A spate of attacks blamed on Muslim
separatists has killed more than 300 people since January.
Attackers have targeted symbols
of the mainly Buddhist Thai state such as official buildings and the security
forces.
The bomb went off at a market where
members of the security forces often go to eat breakfast, police official
Lt Col Amnuay Pongsawat told AP news agency.
It is thought that the bomb was
triggered by remote control when a lorry carrying security officials pulled
up.
Prime Minister Thaksin said he would
not let the latest attack put him off visiting Narathiwat on Friday.
"There have been other bomb blasts
even before my trip. Don't blow it out of proportion," he told reporters
in the southern city of Krabi.
He said the latest attacks were
a response to increased pressure from the country's security forces.
"We now know their network and are
able to arrest more of their cells, so they are resorting to more violent
attacks to boast about their capacity and we have to be more vigilant,"
he added.
Southern Thailand has been the victim
of several attacks and attempted attacks in the last few days.
Powerful bombs were defused in Narathiwat
and Yala provinces on Friday and Monday, and three bombs went off at a
bar and two hotels in Yala on Saturday, wounding 11 people.