Karaoke bar bombs wound five in Thai Muslim south
Source: Reuters
BANGKOK, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Militants detonated three small bombs at karaoke bars and at a roadside in Thailand's rebellious Muslim south, wounding five people including two policemen, police said on Sunday. The latest attack in a nearly three-year-old separatist insurgency occured late on Saturday in the Tak Bai district in the province of Narathiwat, one of three provinces near the Malaysian border where more than 1,700 people have been killed. The 5 kg (11 lb) bombs were detonated simultaneously at two karaoke bars and at a roadside in the area. "A bomb in one karaoke bar exploded just after the two policemen walked into the bar," one police official who declined to be identified told Reuters. Three civilians were also wounded in the two bar bombings. "Witnesses saw a teenage boy walk into one bar and placed a paper bag, presumably with a bomb inside, under a couch," the police official said. The blast followed arson and shooting attacks in the neighbouring province of Yala, where militants shot a teacher couple and their daughter earlier on Saturday. Four schools were also set on fire in the attacks which came despite the post-coup government beginning a concerted effort for peace. Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont travelled to the region to deliver an apology on Thursday for past hardline government policies. Prosecutors also dropped charges against 92 Muslims involved in a 2004 protest in Tak Bai which led to 78 Muslims dying in army custody and fanned the flames of antagonism when the government refused to apologise. Influential Muslims in the region say the apology for the hardline policies of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a bloodless coup on Sept. 19, was most welcome but unlikely to lead to a swift peace. There has been no response from militant groups, who have never claimed responsibility for any of the violence or set out their aims.
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