PATTANI — Seven policemen and a female civilian were injured by a car bomb that exploded near a Border Patrol Police (BPP) base in this southern province on Saturday.
The blast at 12.30pm at the BPP base in Muang district sent thick black smoke billowing into the sky, forcing security authorities to seal off the area and close it to traffic.
The bomb was hidden in a car parked at the Meeting restaurant, near the BPP base located close to Pattani Concrete Factory Ltd. A PTT petrol station and Big C store are also located nearby on Udom Withi Road, police said.
"The bomb was put in a Honda Jazz, which was stolen from a nearby village [on Saturday] morning," provincial police commander Pol Maj Gen Thanongsak Wangsupa told AFP.
The seven injured police officers were Pol Lt Suradej Sumsombat, Pol Cpl Pokpong Chumkham, Pol Cpl Mongkolchai Noonkliang, Pol Cpl Theerachai Kuarlor, Pol Cpl Piyapong Chumkhao, Pol Cpl Attapol Nimwoon and Pol L/C Surasak Sunknual. The injured civilian was Pornchanok Aksornchu.
The wounded were admitted to hospital for treatment of burns and other critical injuries from the explosion, emergency workers said.
A number of vehicles at the restaurant were also damaged.
Earlier in the day, a civil engineer was injured by about 10 gunshots as he was driving to his Phetkasem Yangyont garage in the same district.
An unknown number of gunmen shot Somsak Dussadeepiriya, 51, and fled with his car, said Pol Lt Preecha Prachumchai, a duty officer at the Muang district police station.
Investigators have not concluded whether the shooting was related to the southern insurgency or a business or personal conflict.