Bomb outside restaurant kills policeman, wounds 12 in southern Thailand

Bomb in south Thailand kills policeman, wounds 12

PATTANI, Thailand — A bomb believed to have been planted by Islamic insurgents exploded Friday outside a restaurant in southern Thailand where security forces were eating breakfast, killing a policeman and wounding 12 other people.

Army spokesman Col. Parinya Chaidilok said the bomb was hidden in a pickup truck parked outside the restaurant in Yala city.

Two of those wounded by the 50-kilogram (110-pound) bomb were policemen and the others were civilian bystanders, he said. The explosion destroyed three vehicles, including the pickup truck containing the bomb.

More than 3,700 people have been killed in Thailand’s three southernmost provinces — Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala — since an Islamist insurgency flared in January 2004. The provinces are the only Muslim-majority areas in the Buddhist-dominated country. Muslims in the region have long complained of discrimination by the central government.

Since the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan began last month, there has been a marked surge in violence. On Aug. 25, in a similar attack, a bomb in a pickup truck exploded outside a crowded open-air restaurant at lunchtime, wounding 18 people in Narathiwat city.

A spate of shootings, bombings and military raids on Wednesday and Thursday left 11 people dead and more than 20 wounded.

A massive security presence has failed to stop the violence, which has killed more Muslims than Buddhists. The militants target people working with the government, including soldiers, police and suspected informants. They also stage attacks on civilians that are believed to be intended to scare the Buddhist community into fleeing.

Srisompob Jitpiromsri, a scholar at Pattani’s Prince of Songkhla University who studies the violence, said the average number of violent incidents per month is higher this year than in the previous two years.

“Despite their attempt to quell the violence, government after government have failed to come up with a coordinated policy to improve the situation,” he said. “The military can suppress the movement but it cannot fully control the situation. The insurgents can still find a weak point and stage an attack.”

The insurgents have made no public pronouncements but are thought to be fighting for an independent Muslim state. The area used to be an Islamic sultanate until it was annexed by Thailand in the early 20th century.