Bombings injure 18 people in southern Thailand

At the bombing scene in Yala (Photo: VNA)

Bangkok (VNA) - Two bombs exploded in front of a government office in Thailand's southern Yala province on March 17, leaving 18 people injured.

The explosions took place in front of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC), a Thai government body that oversees the administration of the three mostly Malay-Muslim majority provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala, where an insurgency since 2004 has killed some 7,000 people.

Col. Pramote Prom-in, a regional military security spokesman, said the first bomb was a grenade thrown to the area outside the SBPAC office fence to draw people out.

Then a car bomb about 10m from the first explosion went off. This was hidden in a pick-up truck which the perpetrators parked near the fence. Eighteen were wounded and no one died, he said.

According to the officer, the car bomb exploded ten minutes after the first explosion and among the wounded are five reporters, five police officers, two soldiers and other bystanders.

There has been not any immediate claim of responsibility./.