Blast rattles Thai south after peace talk

Members of a Thai bomb squad inspect the site of a motorcycle bomb blast triggered by suspected separatist militants in front of a market in Thailand's restive southern province of Narathiwat. (Madaree Tohlala, AFP)

Narathiwat - Six people were injured in a bomb blast in the restive Thai south on Friday, police said, as unrest continued barely a day after Thailand signed a peace talk deal with one of several rebel groups.

The device, hidden in a motorcycle, was detonated outside a busy morning market in the provincial town of Narathiwat, police said, adding that the explosion was within an area deemed to be a "safe zone", with a high security presence.

It came a day after the Thai government agreed to hold talks with Barisan Revolusi Nasional, part of a web of shadowy insurgent groups in the Muslim-majority south where a bloody uprising has claimed more than 5 500 lives since 2004.

Local police suggested Friday's blast could be the work of a rival group responding with violence to the news of the BRN discussions.

"We are convinced that this incident was the work of militants wanting to show their power and to discredit the government," Somchai Panomuppakarn, deputy chief investigator of Narathiwat city police, told AFP.

Daily shootings and bombings

But Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra dismissed the suggestions, saying a reduction in attacks would take time.

"These bombings are usual, it was not in retaliation against the government. The signing yesterday does not mean that the violence will stop immediately," she told reporters.

A 66-year-old man was in a critical condition with shrapnel wounds and facial burns following Friday's blast, which also injured four women and a soldier.

A stubborn insurgency seeking greater autonomy has raged across several provinces in the south of Thailand bordering Malaysia for nine years - with near-daily shootings and bombings.

Malaysian premier Najib Razak on Thursday said his country would host the Thai talks in Kuala Lumpur in two weeks, following discussions with Yingluck who was in the country for annual bilateral meetings.

Comments

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, specif

Search This Blog