Blasts kill official, leave 17 injured

One person was killed and nearly 20 injured, including the district chief of Pattani's Ma-Yor district, in two separate explosions in the deep South yesterday.

A bomb went off in Ma-Yor at about 1.30pm as district chief Wirat Praserttho and officials presided over a ceremony to open a religious school. The event was being attended by religious and community leaders as well as local residents.

The 5-kilogram bomb was set off by remote control as officials were about to release fish into an irrigation canal.

Usman Hajidoloh, an agricultural official, died shortly after being admitted to Pattani Hospital.

District clerks Wirat and Rohop Musengdoloh were in a serious condition while nine other people suffered minor injuries.

Authorities cordoned off the area shortly after the explosion in an effort to trap the bombers, but were not able to make any arrests.

Earlier in neighbouring Yala province, a lunchtime explosion in front of a restaurant in Lam Mai subdistrict injured six people, including three police officers who were in the area to set up a checkpoint.

Police said the bomb, triggered by mobile phone, was hidden in a motorbike parked in front of the restaurant.

The violence in the predominantly Muslim region, which erupted at the beginning of 2004, has killed more than 2,800 people so far.

Authorities have tightened security in the region after intelligence information suggested that Malay separatist insurgents might increase their violence during Chinese New Year.

In another incident yesterday afternoon, a religious teacher was shot dead in Yala's Raman district. Dorohmeng Bahawa was attacked while riding a motorbike home from a mosque where he teaches.

The Nation