Four dead, 49 injured as bombs rip through Thai Muslim south

THAILAND: At least four people were killed and 49 injured when a series of coordinated explosions, arson attacks and shootings hit Thailand's restive Muslim-majority south, police said.

Fifteen explosions injured 26 people and killed one in Yala province, one of three insurgency-torn southern provinces bordering Malaysia, while in nearby Narathiwat province, one person was killed and 23 injured in seven bombings.

An unknown number of arson attacks and blasts hit Pattani province, one of which temporarily cut the provincial capital's electricity. Two villagers in Pattani were also shot dead in an ambush Sunday night.

"There are efforts to create chaos and make the news worldwide," said national army spokesman Colonel Acar Tiproch.

The bombings across the three troubled provinces began at about 7.00 pm (1200 GMT).

In Yala Town, police said nine blasts hit karaoke bars, petrol stations, hotels, a golf course and a cinema, while in a remote area of the province one person was killed in one of six blasts. Pattani's governor Panu Uthairat told Thai television that three blasts there had hit the power plant.

A blackout ensued in Pattani Town, but he reassured residents that 95 percent of the supply had been restored. In Narathiwat, seven bombings - the majority of which hit karaoke bars - started at 7.30 pm, police said, killing one.

Bangkok, Monday, AFP