Three bombs wound 22 in Thailand's Muslim south

Narathiwat (Thailand), Nov 17: Three bombs exploded in Thailand's restive Muslim south today, wounding 22 people, in an apparent response by separatist militants to Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont's visit the previous day.

Police said the first bomb, a 15 kg device hidden in a fire extinguisher, hit a military Humvee with five soldiers inside in a town in Narathiwat, one of the three southernmost provinces where more than 1,800 people have been killed since January 2004.

The second and third bombs were detonated by mobile phones around an hour later at a tea shop and in a nearby street in the provincial capital of the same name, wounding 17 people, police said.

The suspected Muslim separatists, who have never made their goals public or claimed responsibility for any attacks, detonated bombs almost simultaneously at eight car and motorcycle showrooms the day after Surayud's previous visit on November 8.

Surayud, appointed by the army after a September coup against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has apologised to the region's Muslim, Malay-speaking majority for the iron fist approach of his predecessor.

He has visited the far south -- an independent sultanate until it was annexed a century ago -- three times in less than a month and stated a desire for dialogue with the rebels, but has admitted there is no simple way to end the daily violence.

Reuters