Suspected bomber killed in Muslim Thai south
BANGKOK, March 15 (Reuters) - A man with two bombs in his car was killed when they exploded prematurely in Thailand's rebellious Muslim south on Saturday, police said.
The man may have been planning to carry an attack in the region, an independent sultanate until annexed by Thailand a century ago, where more than 2,300 people have been killed in four years of insurgency, they said.
The bombs, each weighing 15 kg (33 lb), exploded near a school in the city of Yala, capital of one of three southern provinces where the latest insurgency in the region erupted in January, 2004.
He was killed instantly, but nobody was wounded, police said.
No one claims responsibility for attacks in the far south, where most people speak a Malay dialect and where the government has stationed several thousand troops in a so far unsuccessful attempt to quell the unrest. (Reporting by Surapan Boonthanom; Writing by Orathai Sriring; Editing by Michael Battye and Matthew Jones)
The man may have been planning to carry an attack in the region, an independent sultanate until annexed by Thailand a century ago, where more than 2,300 people have been killed in four years of insurgency, they said.
The bombs, each weighing 15 kg (33 lb), exploded near a school in the city of Yala, capital of one of three southern provinces where the latest insurgency in the region erupted in January, 2004.
He was killed instantly, but nobody was wounded, police said.
No one claims responsibility for attacks in the far south, where most people speak a Malay dialect and where the government has stationed several thousand troops in a so far unsuccessful attempt to quell the unrest. (Reporting by Surapan Boonthanom; Writing by Orathai Sriring; Editing by Michael Battye and Matthew Jones)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
Woods home after car crash