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3 killed, 53 wounded in Thailand bombings

BANGKOK: A series of bomb explosions on Sunday night rocked insurgency-plagued southern Thailand, killing three people and wounding 53 others, amid power blackouts and telephone cuts, military and police officers said.

In what were apparently coordinated attacks, suspected Muslim separatists struck in four provinces of the deep south, setting off at least 28 bombs at entertainment venues, power grids and commercial sites, said Col. Wichai Thongdaeng, a military spokesman.

Torching of schools, ambushes and other violent incidents were also reported by the military.

Police said that three Thais of Chinese descent - one man and two women - were gunned down in Pattani province in what was believed to be the act of the insurgents.

The killings occurred as the Thai-Chinese community was celebrating the advent of the Chinese New Year on Sunday.

In the bombings, two people were killed and 33 wounded, four of them seriously, in Yala province, while one person died and 20 were wounded in a tourist-frequented town in Narathiwat province, he said.

Two explosions tore through power stations in Pattani, causing blackouts in several areas of the province while two bombings were reported in Songkhla province.

More than 2,000 people have perished in the four provinces since the insurgency erupted in 2004, fueled by decades of misrule by the central government in this predominantly Buddhist nation. - AP

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