Thai PM calls security meet after southern bombs

Bangkok, Feb 19: Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont called an urgent security meeting today after a wave of bombs killed killed 6 people and wounded more than 50 in the Muslim-majority far south.

Hours before the meeting, an army major was killed at the gate of his house in Yala, one of the four southern provinces hit by around 30 bombs last night, after he picked up a bag containing a bomb, police said.

The blast also wounded his 7-year-old son.

Police also said a bomb exploded inside a car showroom in Pattani town this morning wounding 3 or 4 people. Another three civilians were shot dead in raids on their houses by unknown assailants in Pattani province.

Yesterday's wave of attacks were aimed at karaoke bars, hotels and other targets in mainly urban areas of a region where more than 2,000 people have been killed in three years of separatist violence.

''We have tried to step up security surveillance during the Chinese New Year, but were concerned that tourists might be scared off if we decided to arm our patrols,'' army spokesman Colonel Acra Tiprote told a radio station.

''Their aims were to create a sense of insecurity among the public in these provinces and an impression that the government could not maintain security,'' he said of the militants.

Sixteen schools, houses, and public phone booths were set ablaze in the largely Malay-speaking region, a sultanate until annexed by overwhelmingly Buddhist Thailand a century ago.

The latest violence came just two days after Surayud said his government planned to hold talks with Muslim insurgents. He gave no further details.

After replacing Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a coup in September, Surayud's military-appointed government embarked on a peace offensive in the rebellious Muslim far south, but insurgent attacks have not diminished.

Pattani, capital of the southern province of the same name, was plunged into darkness for at least half an hour last night after a power substation was damaged by a bomb, security officials said.

Yala was hardest hit in the violence with two killed and 24 wounded in attacks on bars, a small hotel, petrol stations and a golf driving range, Acra said.

In Narathiwat, one person was killed and 22 were wounded in blasts at five karaoke bars in the border town of Sungai Kolok, a popular destination for Malaysian tourists.

Reuters