BANGKOK, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Robbers detonated a bomb planted in one of the trucks they had robbed in southern Thailand's Pattani on Thursday, damaging a row of houses but leaving no injuries.
Local media said the damaged houses were residence of police. The country's defense minister has ordered to tighten security in the deep south.
The explosion came following a daring truck robbery on Wednesday.
A group of at least seven militants in two pickup trucks raided a car dealership and robbed six pickup trucks in the southern province of Songkla. The robbers held the shop owner and three employees hostage.
Two of the hostages managed to flee, but the other two were shot, one of whom died later and the other suffered serious injury, according to local media.
Police said security officers later retrieved three stolen trucks and found one was equipped with a bomb, which was safely disarmed. The case is under investigation.
Observers believe the robbery was carried out by insurgents who were to use the trucks in future attacks.
