BANGKOK: A roadside bomb killed at least one Thai soldier and severely wounded another Friday in an attack blamed on southern Muslim separatists, police said. Police said a unit of eight soldiers was patrolling in Mayo district of Pattani province to protect local teachers when insurgents detonated the homemade bomb with a mobile phone. The explosion followed a series of arson and bomb attacks on Thursday that injured at least a dozen people and caused extensive damage in the southern provinces of Pattani and Narathiwat. Also on Thursday, a Muslim husband and wife were shot dead at their home in Pattani's Sai Buri district by gunmen who fired from a motorcycle. The couple's son, who was a government defence volunteer, was killed by insurgents in 2010. A total of 39 people were killed and 69 wounded in incidents in the provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala in February, the Deep South Watch group at the Prince of Songkla University Pattani reported on Friday. The research group said there were 74 violent incidents – nine explosions, 42 shootings, 16 cases of arson, and seven other attacks in February. Altogether some 5,000 people have been killed and thousands more injured since the separatist insurgency flared up in January 2004. The insurgents say they are fighting for the independence of the three southernmost provinces, which are predominantly Muslim, while the rest of the country is overwhelmingly Buddhist. ** with dpa BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/KPGoQ Tags: Attack, Bomb, Soldier, Thailand Section: East Asia, Latest News
