Special report:
Situation in
Thailand
BANGKOK, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's caretaker Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra ordered senior officials to provide answers to
possible security lapses after Thursday morning's insurgent bombings in the deep
South.
Suspected Muslim militants set off at least 23 bombs
at state-owned and commercial banks across the country's southernmost Yala
Province, killing at least two persons and injuring 18 others.
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A Thai police officer inspects the scene of a bomb
explosion in a bank in Yala province, about 1084 km (673 miles) south of
Bangkok, August 31, 2006. Suspected militants set off small bombs inside
and outside at least 21 banks in predominantly Muslim southern Thailand on
Thursday, killing at least one person and wounding more than 20, police
and witnesses said.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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The incidents were thought to mark the 27th
anniversary of the founding of "Bersatu" -- the United Front for the
Independence of Pattani -- as an umbrella organization of various ethnic Malay
organizations.
Asked if the authorities ever speculated about the
militants targeting the financial institutions, the prime minister said briefly
that the intelligence agency had provided a forewarning of potential violence at
this period of time, but he did not specify details.
However, Thaksin said, Deputy Prime Minister and
Justice Minister Pol. Gen. Chidchai Vanastidya and Royal Thai Army
Commander-in-Chief Gen. Sonthi Booyaratkalin, who is directly responsible for
overseeing security affairs in the region, would clarify the situation later.
Thaksin did not answer when asked about possibility
of changing executives overseeing the resolving of southern unrest.
Chidchai said he had talked with Fourth Army Area
Command Chief Lt. Gen. Ongkorn Thongprasom and Yala Governor Boonsith Suwanarat
about the bombings and asked them to closely monitor the situation.
"Earlier," Chidchai said, "I warned the authorities
in the region to brace for possible violence on the day marking the anniversary
of Bersatu's founding."
The prime minister ordered the army chief to visit
Yala and update him on the situation there, Chidchai said.
As the latest development reported on Thursday
afternoon, Yala police arrested two suspects allegedly involved in the bombings.
Enditem
Related: Militants explode banks in southern Thailand
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An injured man arrives at hospital following a bomb
blast in Thailand's restive southern Yala province Aug. 31,
2006..(Xinhua/AFP Photo)
Photo Gallery
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BANGKOK, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Thai southern Muslim
militants detonated at least 23 bombs simultaneously at several commercial banks
in southernmost province of Yala Thursday morning, killing at least one person
and injuring dozens, a military source told Xinhua.
All the bombs, mostly planted in ATM booths at the
banks, were detonated by clocks between 11:30 a.m. local time (0730 GMT) to
11:35 a.m. local time (0735 GMT). Full story>>
