Police said witnesses reported the motorcycle had been parked moments before by two young men. The vehicle carried a fake registration plate. The five-kilogram bomb was remotely detonated by mobile telephone.

Police suspected militants intended to kill four soldiers who had stopped to buy supplies. The explosion injured three other soldiers and 12 civilians at the market.

The attack came as Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont attempts to promote reconciliation. He recently apologised for earlier government actions in the deep South.

Separately, three men were killed in a drive-by shooting late Sunday night in Rangae district.

Abdulrohim Arwaebuesa, 47, and friends Mahama Chekho, 44, and Uma Nima, 46, were drinking tea when at least four gunmen in a pickup truck fired 30 rounds from assault rifles.

Two of the men were killed instantly and the third died later in hospital.

Police suspected the attack might have been politically motivated. Abdulrohim was a local Tambon Administrative Organisation official. They did not rule out insurgency.

More than 1,700 people have been killed since violence intensified in the three Muslim-majority provinces in early 2004.

The Nation

NARATHIWAT