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Muslim insurgents kill eight and injure dozens more in Thailand bomb blast
Nine people have been killed and at least 70 injured in a series of bomb attacks on a shopping district in Thailand.
The devices were hidden in motorcycles and cars and detonated by mobile phones.
Islamist insurgents are believed to be behind the attacks that took place when people gathered for lunch in a commercial center of the city of Yala, in the insurgent-plagued south of the country.
The bomb attacks bear the hallmarks of Islamic insurgents
Governor Dethrat Simsiri said 68 people were injured by three blasts that occurred within 100 meters and only minutes apart.
He told Thai television that many of the injured were hit by the third bomb, hidden in a car, as they gathered at the scene. A total of 23 remained in hospital, he said.
“We’re not sure what group of suspected Islamist insurgents were behind this, but we’re looking,” he said.
The first bomb was hidden in a motorcycle parked near a shopping district and was detonated by a mobile phone around noon, the governor said.
Within minutes, a second bomb, concealed in another motorcycle, exploded, followed by a third explosion from a device in a car that set nearby buildings on fire, he said.
Eight people were killed and at least 70 injured in a series of bomb explosions
This type of bombing is a common tactic of Islamist separatists who have been waging an insurgency since early 2004 in Thailand’s three southernmost provinces.
This type of bombing is a common tactic of Islamist separatists who have been waging an insurgency in Thailand’s three southernmost provinces since early 2004. The conflict has claimed more than 5,000 lives.
Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani are the only Muslim-dominated provinces in the predominantly Buddhist country.
Separately, an explosion occurred at a hotel in the town of Hat Yai, in nearby Songkhla province, which officials said was attributed to a gas leak and unrelated to the attacks blamed on insurgents.
Several tourists staying at the Lee Gardens Hotel where the blast took place suffered smoke inhalation following the afternoon explosion, which took place at a Japanese restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel, police said.
Three explosions occurred within a radius of 100 meters and only minutes apart
.