Thailand bombing – a monk and a soldier killed while injuring a dozen others in Pattani province on Saturday morning. It is believed to be hidden in a garbage bin near a riverside market.
At 6:30 am police got a call about the explosion in Sai Buri district’s Taluban municipality and rushed to the crime scene within few minutes.
The rescuers found eight people injured at the scene including two monks, three Thai military on duty soldiers and other three were ordinary citizens. Three soldiers were members of a team guarding the Buddhist monks during the morning alms collection ceremony.
According to the initial investigation, a remote detonation device was placed inside a gas cylinder next to a roadside stall and went off as army men escorted the monks from Wat Wimol Wattanaram to fetch alms.
The army condemned the incident, calling the renegades behind the blast who tried to hinder efforts to restore peace in the dilapidated region.
Col Banpot Poonpian, Internal Security Operation Command spokesman, said “the area had long been a peaceful place for people belonging to different religions and condemned the attackers for trying to stir the unrest. He accused the culprits are attempting to trigger a rift between people of different faiths.”
Army chief Gen Udomdej Sitaburr ordered the law enforcement forces to increase the security across the region and expressed condolences to the families of the victims.
The authorities issued new security guidelines for the monks in southern region of the country in response to the recent bombing attack by the insurgents.
Southern Thailand has witnessed more than five decade long conflict. More than 5,000 people have been killed since the insurgency upsurge in 2001 and they are generally believed to be fighting for an independent Muslim state.
File photo shows police and forensic experts inspecting the site of a bomb attack in the southern province of Pattani, Thailand, on July 13, 2015. Three soldiers were injured in the explosion. On July 25, 2015, a monk and a policeman died in another bomb attack. – Reuters pic