5 soldiers injured by bomb in restive S. Thailand

Five soldiers were injured by a bomb explosion in restive southern province of Pattani on Tuesday.

Police said they received a report of the attack on the rural road in Pattani's Yaring district at about 7.30 a.m. local time.

At the scene, police found a 40 cm wide and 30 cm deep crater caused by the explosion, along with debris and residue from the blast.

According to witnesses, seven paramilitary rangers providing security for teachers were patrolling the road on foot when a home- made bomb planted under a roadside tree was detonated. Five of the rangers were wounded.

Police blamed separatist militants for the incident.

More than 5,000 people have been killed and over 9,000 hurt in over 11,000 incidents, about 3.5 incidents a day, in Thailand's three Muslim, ethnic-Malay dominated southern border provinces -- Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and four districts of Songkhla -- since violence erupted in January 2004, according to Deep South Watch, which monitors the regional violence.