Malaysian army say blasts on Thai border an accident

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 12 (Reuters) Two grenade explosions that wounded four soldiers at a Malaysian border post this week were an accident and not an attack by unknown assailants as earlier claimed, the army said today.

The grenades exploded before dawn on Wednesday at the Ban Din Samoe post, which sits across the border from a Thai military post at the western end of their frontier.

''Further investigations revealed that what actually happened was an 'accidental discharge','' the army said in a statement.

''There was no intrusion at the Ban Din Samoe post. The Armed Forces regretted the confusion,'' it said, adding that it would investigate why the head of the border post had made a contradictory report.

Army deputy chief Lieutenant-General Muhammad Ismail Jamaluddin had earlier today dismissed a Thai military version of the incident which said the blasts were an accident during a training exercise.

Muhammad Ismail had said two grenades were thrown at the soldiers by a group of unknown people who then disappeared in the dark after the soldiers fired shots at them.

The soldiers were not seriously hurt, and three of them had been discharged from hospital.

The incident follows security scares in Thailand, including bomb blasts in the capital Bangkok during New Year celebrations and continuing Islamist-linked unrest and violence at the eastern end of Thailand's border with Malaysia.

REUTERS BDP RN2115