Thailand says has no clues on southern bombers

Yala (Thailand), Feb 19: Thailand's army-appointed government admitted today it had no idea who was behind a wave of bombs and shootings in which eight people were killed in the Muslim-majority far south as the Lunar New Year began.

Shortly before a special security meeting in Bangkok, an army major was killed outside his house in Yala, one of the four southern provinces hit by around 30 bombs yesterday 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 that exploded inside a car showroom in Pattani town today morning wounded up to four people. Another three civilians were shot dead in raids on their houses by unknown assailants in Pattani province.

''The problem now is that we don't know who's responsible and where they are,'' army Chief of Staff General Montri Sangkhasap told reporters after Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont met security chiefs to discuss the violence.

Yesterday's attacks, in which more than 50 people were wounded, 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.

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

''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.

100 YEARS OF UNREST

After December. 31 bombs killed three people in Bangkok, Montri said security forces would be on extra high alert during the Makhabucha religious holiday on March 5 and the ''Songkran'' Thai New Year celebrations in mid-April.

The government was quick to suggest the Bangkok blasts were due to lingering fallout from the September. 19 coup against Thaksin Shinawatra, although some investigators are now saying southern militants might have been involved.

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 Thaksin's removal in a bloodless September coup, Surayud 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 on Sunday 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

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