Car bomb wounds 42 in Southern Thailand

Writer: AFP

Published: 25/08/2009

A powerful car bomb ripped through a restaurant packed with government officials in the southern province of Narathiwat on Tuesday, injuring at least 42 people, the army said.

The blast, about 12.30pm, was one of the most serious attacks for months in the insurgency-plagued provinces bordering Malaysia, where a violent separatist islamic rebellion has been raging for more than five years.

The 50-kilogramme device was hidden inside a stolen Toyota pick-up truck and exploded during the busy lunch hour in the centre of Narathiwat township, officials said.

"It's very horrible. We had intelligence that militants would mount a large-scale attack,'' Lt-General Pichet Wisaichorn, the southern region army commander, told reporters.

He said that seven of the 42 people injured in the blast were in a critical condition. Most of the wounded were Buddhist government officials and included the local government chief..

Police and rescue workers rushed the wounded to hospitals.

The timing of the attack just after the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan was "very interesting", said Sunai Phasuk, an analyst for Human Rights Watch in Thailand.

"We are in the holy month of Ramadan and the bomb went off clearly to harm the non-Muslim population,'' he said. "It shows the insurgents are avoiding causing collateral damage to their fellow Muslims, because they would come after the end of fasting [in the evening].''

He said this Ramadan was "marked with violence from day one''. Over the weekend, eight people, including two soldiers and three security volunteers, were killed by insurgents.

"It seems they use Ramadan to symbolise the cleansing of non-Malay Muslims,'' Mr Sunai added.

More than 3,700 people have been killed and thousands more injured since the insurgency erupted in January 2004, led by shadowy insurgents who have never publicly stated their goals.

The far South has seen a recent upsurge in attacks, many of which involve shootings of Buddhists and Muslims alike. There have also been gruesome killings such as crucifixions and beheadings.

Gunmen stormed a mosque in Narathiwat province in June, killing 11 people as they held evening prayers. A man whose familoy was killed by insurgents has been arrested.

While there were no immediate reports of deaths in Tuesday's attack, it was the biggest bomb attack in the south since twin blasts killed one person and wounded 70 in Narathiwat in November.

Thailand's four southernmost provinces made up an autonomous Malay Muslim sultanate until the region was annexed by predominantly Buddhist Thailand in 1902, sparking decades of tension.