BANGKOK, April 20 (Xinhua) -- South Thailand has been hit twice by more than a dozen of bomb blasts and gun attacks within a month, killing two, officials said on Thursday.
According to local media, suspected militants launched 13 grenade and gun attacks in 12 separate districts of three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Songkhla at about 7 p.m. local time Wednesday night.
Local media reported the attacks targeted police stations and checkpoints. No group has claimed for the attacks.
A spokesman for Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command was quoted by local media as saying that eight other civilians and officials were wounded in the violence.
The restive southernmost provinces were rocked by a string of attacks on April 7. Suspected insurgents set off bombs, bringing down power lines and setting tires on fire to block roads, but causing no deaths or injuries.
On April 10, a key rebel group, Barisan Revolusi Nasional (National Revolutionary Front) BRN issued a rare public statement to reject peace talks the Thai government has been holding with them.
A conflict known as south Thailand insurgency started in 2004. The Muslim population of the provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat have been striving for independence from predominantly Buddhist Thailand. About 7,000 people were killed in the conflict.
