• 
• 

Published on November 3, 2007

The bomb, detonated by remote control, was placed in a predominantly Buddhist section of the outdoor market where pork was being sold.

At least three of the victims were seriously wounded.

Three of the injured were Buddhists who had taken refuge at the Niroj Sangkara Temple in Yala's Muang district after fleeing their home in Ban Santhi village out of fear for their safety.

They decided on Thursday to return home and had gone to the market for food and supplies when the bomb went off.

Police suspected the militants of being behind the bomb and other violence aimed at driving a bigger wedge between the local Muslim and Buddhist communities in the Malay-speaking deep South.

Authorities said over half of the 2,600 victims who had died since January 2004 were Malay Muslims suspected of spying for authorities on the insurgents.

The bomb attack came two days after suspected insurgents set off a string of bomb blasts in central Narathiwat on a street dotted with karaoke bars. One person died in the incident.

Separately, two of the three Muslim men who suffered gunshot wounds from a Thursday attack died at a Narathiwat hospital yesterday afternoon, police said. The third person was shot dead late on Thursday in a drive-by shooting.

Meanwhile at Parliament House in Bangkok, leading human-rights campaigners Ankana Neelaphaijit and Somchai Hormla-or led 11 non-governmental organisations to launch a complaint to lawmakers over the recent announcement by the Fourth Army Area that prohibits at least 10 local villagers in the restive region from returning to their homes for the next six months.

They questioned the legality of the Fourth Army's decision and called on lawmakers to intervene.

Army spokesman Acra Thiproch said the army did not intend to limit their freedom of movement and had imposed the restriction for the purpose of security.

"They may be allowed to return home if they are able to show the authorities guarantees from community or religious leaders that they will not create any trouble," he said.

The Nation

Yala