Bomb blast in south Thailand kills four
At least four people have been killed and four others injured in a bomb attack at a checkpoint in Thailand’s southern province of Pattani, police say.
The bomb blast took place on Thursday evening in Khok Pho district in Pattani, which is mainly considered an insurgency hotspot.
“The culprits placed a bomb under a chair at the checkpoint killing four people,” Police Colonel Tanongsak Wansupha said.
No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, but Bangkok blames such incidents on the insurgents active in the violence-wracked south.
Three provinces in southern Thailand, namely Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, have faced an insurgency since 2004. The violence occasionally spills into the province of Songkhla as well.
Several insurgent groups are fighting the Thai government for more autonomy for the ethnically-Malay region there. More than 6,500 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict.
In August, a roadside bomb went off in Bacho district in Narathiwat, killing a Thai soldier and injuring four others. A string of bombings hit Narathiwat and Songkhla in July and killed at least one person and injured over a dozen others.
Thailand is currently ruled by a junta, which seized power on May 22, 2014 in a coup following months of anti-government protests and violence in the country.
The Thai government held several rounds of talks with rebel leaders to end the conflict in the region. The talks, however, mainly stalled because of internal disagreement within both sides.
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