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Published on January 16, 2008

A popular market in Yala has been hit by a terrorist bomb for the second time in less than a year with the latest attack injuring 43 people, six of them critically.

The attack came a day after insurgents killed eight soldiers in the brutal ambush of a military Humvee in Narathiwat.

The Yala bomb exploded early yesterday morning just as people were finishing giving alms to monks in the market.

Witnesses said the bomb went off just after a young man parked a motorcycle near the busy market.

Soldiers and police rushed to cordon off the area and clear victims and onlookers from the site immediately for fear that another bomb had been hidden in the bike.

The explosion seriously injured six people, two of them women. The bomb follows a similar blast in March when nine people were hurt.

Police are checking pictures from 11 security cameras set up around the area in their hunt for the culprits. They said they were hopeful of arresting suspects within a few days.

The militants on Monday ambushed an Army Humvee, killing eight soldiers and beheading one of them.

Investigators said the attackers had tried to decapitate the rest of the soldiers.

Colonel Thanathip Sawang-saeng, Internal Secu-rity Operations Command (Isoc) spokesman, said yesterday that the eight soldiers would each receive a posthumous level-nine promotion for their sacrifice in the line of duty.

Isoc will also pay compensation according to the PM's Office regulations.

The Royal Thai army will pay the family of each soldier of sergeant and private rank a total of about Bt1 million. Families of higher-ranking officers would each be paid about Bt2 million, Thanathip said.

The eight soldiers were Sub-Lieutenant Anont Bountham (the unit commander), Sgt-Major Somchit Thieuphum-ruk, Sgt-Major Phongsak Chanmala, Sergeant Boun-tham Nilsonthi, Corpo-ral Watchara Wattanothai, Lance-Corporal Prachum Kopra-klangchai, Private Somphong Kamolchuang and Private Utis Panmat.

The men belonged to 2923 Infantry Company from Nara-thiwat's 34th Task Force.

The Cabinet yesterday agreed to extend an emergency decree in the three southernmost provinces for three additional months, effective from January 20. Government spokesman Chaiya Yimwilai said the government decided to extend the decree in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat Provinces because of the ongoing unrest.

The Cabinet also classified another five provinces - Song-khla, Thepa, Sabayoi, Chana and Nathawee - as danger zones due to rising unrest in those areas.

The emergency decree was first implemented in July 2005 and has been extended several times.

The Nation