By NNN-Bernama,
Bangkok : At least 60 people were injured when two bombs planted by suspected insurgents exploded in Sukhirin, Narathiwat province, near the Thailand-Malaysia border at around 11.15am Tuesday.
An army spokesman said security personnel also found a 5kg bomb in Rueso district, also in Narathiwat, but it did not explode.
He said that in the first incident near a food market in Sukhirin, police and soldiers who were alerted of a bomb rushed to the area.
“But as they were closing the area, the bomb exploded and many bystanders were also injured…at least six were seriously injured,” he said when contacted.
Two minutes later, another bomb was triggered off at a tea shop in front of the Sukhirin district office, the spokesman said.
The attacks came on the second day of the new school term. On Monday, a roadside bomb targeting soldiers escorting teachers exploded but there was no casualty.
Last week, eight people, including three soldiers, were injured when a bomb exploded near a market in Yala.
More than 3,300 people have died in daily violence since suspected separatists resumed their campaign to seek independence for the Muslim-majority provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.