BANGKOK, July 25 (Xinhua) -- A car bomb explosion killed at least three people and injured more than 40 others in south Thailand's Yala province on Friday.
The province has long been plagued with separatist violence.
The bomb blast occurred at Betong district of the province at around 4:40 p.m. local time, the Nation newspaper quoted local police as saying.
The police said that the bomb, estimated to weigh about 30 kilograms, was planted inside a car parked in front of Holiday Hill Hotel in the downtown area of this border district.
The area was crowded with tourists and local residents at the time of the blast. Investigation into the incident is underway.
Since January 2004, separatist violence has recurrently rocked Thailand's Deep South, including three Muslim, ethnic-Malay dominated southern border provinces -- Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and four districts of Songkhla.
Figures from the Thai military show that insurgent violence in the Deep South has left more than 5,900 people dead and 10,600 others injured during the past decade.
|
