Published on January 12, 2005

Five people, including two policemen, were injured when a home-made bomb exploded yesterday afternoon at a local photocopying shop, in what police believe was part of the ongoing campaign of violence in the deep South.

The two injured officers, both attached to Muang district police station, suffered shrapnel wounds.

Another man and two women – one of them the shop owner – were also injured in the blast.

Investigators said they believed the bomb was hidden under a piece of stone furniture in front of the shop and detonated by mobile phone.

The explosion damaged nearby storefronts in addition to that of the shop where the bomb exploded and created a crater in the ground.

Meanwhile, in Songkhla, a local policeman riding his motorbike to work was shot dead by an unknown motorcycle gunman riding pillion yesterday morning.

Senior Sgt-Major Virayuth Masaa, 46, who wore a bulletproof vest, was shot in the back of the head.

Following the shooting, Songkhla police chief Maj-General Surapol Thongprasert urged his officers to be on heightened alert.

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