CityNews – On Sunday and Monday, 6th and 7th April, a string of explosions took place in Yala, Thailand’s southernmost province, which killed one person and injured at least 30 people.
On Sunday afternoon, bombs detonated at two 7-Eleven convenience stores, a government-run education centre, and a household-goods warehouse (which burnt down). The bombs killed one person and injured another 30, and caused around 200 million baht in damage. Four more exploded on Monday in the same district, causing well over 100 million baht in damage.
The police told the media the details of the eight bombings over two days, saying that 100 kg of explosives were found in a pick-up truck that had been previously reported as stolen. The car exploded on Sunday outside a furniture shop, causing the death of one person. A bomb placed inside a motorcycle with a sidecar attached to it also exploded on the same street later that day.
Car bombings overall are rare, but have been becoming a more popular mode of violence in the last few months. Authorities point out that the increasing violence should be a warning to the government that the rebels are becoming increasingly frustrated with the country’s focus on political turmoil in Bangkok, resulting in suspended peace talks between the government and the rebels and a lack of attention on the South’s ongoing violence.
At the moment, the suspects of the bomb attacks are Muslim separatist insurgents and have been seen on CCTV footage of the areas where bombs exploded. The three Muslim-dominant provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat have been embroiled in a decade-long resistance which have seen almost 6,000 people killed, most of whom were Muslims. Over 10,000 people have suffered through various injuries due to the violence.