Southern Thailand
13 Injured after Insurgents Set Off Car Bomb in Narathiwat Province
The bomb was hidden in a pickup truck that was parked in front of a karaoke bar in a commercial district in Narathiwat province, police Col. Manit Yimsaai said.
NARATHIWAT – Thirteen people were wounded when Suspected Muslim insurgents detonated a car bomb by remote control that ripped through a karaoke bar and several other buildings in Thailand’s Muslim-Majority deep south on Friday, Police Col. Manit Yimsaai reported.
Col. Manit Yimsaai reoprted that the explosion wounded two soldiers and 11 civilians, one of them seriously.
Bomb disposal experts also defused a bomb hidden on a motorcycle parked nearby and another smaller homemade device 500 metres from the blast site.
Col. Manit Yimsaai said “The attackers wanted to lure police to the site before hitting us with another bomb,”
Torn corrugated roofing, electrical wires, shattered glass and the charred shell of the car littered the street as police secured the area
The blast, which occurred after Friday prayers and also destroyed several houses in the provincial capital of Narathiwat, comes as the Thai junta seeks negotiating partners to restart peace talks with insurgents.
Thailand’s southernmost provinces, bordering Malaysia, have been blistered by more than a decade of violence between insurgents seeking greater autonomy for the culturally distinct region and Thai security forces.
More than 6,300 people have been killed — the majority civilians.
