Blasts wound 11 in Narathiwat attacks

NARATHIWAT : Central areas of two districts of this southern province have been rocked by bomb blasts, injuring eight residents and three police officers.

Police are seeking an arrest warrant for a suspected insurgent believed to be a member of the group behind the attacks yesterday in Muang and Sungai Kolok districts.

The first bomb went off about 6am in a car park at a fresh market on Phupha Phakdee road in Muang Narathiwat municipality.

Ten people were injured and sent to Naradhiwasrajanagarindra Hospital for treatment.

Police said footage of the suspect obtained from a security camera in front of a travel agency and a physical description provided by two injured policemen would help in his arrest.

The man parked a motorcycle at the parking lot near the tour agency early in the morning and left shortly before the motorbike exploded.

Police inquiries found the man used a mobile phone to detonate the bomb, hidden inside the motorbike, while four police officers were patrolling near the vehicle. The blast injured two police officers and eight passers-by.

Most of the victims received minor injuries, but doctors said two were seriously wounded.

Police later found the motorcycle had been stolen from a man in Rangae district.

The second bomb went off an hour later in Sungai Kolok district.

A roadside coffee vendor told police of a suspicious-looking metal box near her kiosk at Kolok Thepwimon temple on Prachawiwat Soi 4 road.

A mobile phone was used to detonate the bomb at the moment a bomb squad team arrived at the scene.

One officer, identified as Pol Sgt-Maj Suradet Manipitak, received head injuries. The bomb squad's pick-up truck was damaged by shrapnel.

Officers believe the attacker was a member of the same group which carried out the earlier attack.

They said the group staged the attacks to boost the morale of its members after a recent crackdown on insurgents.