13 hurt as twin bombs go off in Thai south

Members of the Thai bomb squad inspecting the site of a motorcycle bomb attack which injured 13 people, including five police officers and a young girl, in Thailand's southern province of Narathiwat yesterday.

The bomb was one of two hidden in motorbikes bearing fake registration plates, reported The Bangkok Post. One was parked near the Muang police station and the other outside a lottery shop downtown, the police said.

The bombs went off just a minute apart. Lottery dealer Thamrong Keeratiwirojkul told the Post that he had called the police after he saw a man parking a motorbike in front of his house, then leaving on another motorcycle.

However, the bomb exploded before the police arrived. More than 6,500 people - mostly civilians - have been killed in Thailand's restive south since 2004 in clashes between militants and security forces from Thailand's Buddhist-majority state.

(THE STRAITS TIMES)