Bangkok, July 09: A roadside bomb attack aimed at a military convoy in Thailand’s southern Pattani province has left one soldier killed and five others wounded.
The soldiers were reportedly patrolling a road in the town of Pitoomdee on Thursday, when their vehicle was struck by a roadside blast, police said.
In June, a number of militants raided a mosque in Narathiwat province, killing at least 11 prayers and wounding another 12.
The incident prompted Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to hold a meeting to study a $528-million operational plan for the deep South for the next fiscal year, ordering the prosecution of those behind the attack.
Deputy Secretary for the Prime Minister, Panitan Wattanayagorn, said the government planned to deploy an additional 1,440 security volunteers to help maintain law and order in Thailand’s deep South.
The region, comprised of the three southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani, Narathiwas, and some parts of Songkla, was an autonomous Malay Muslim sultanate before predominantly Buddhist Thailand annexed it in 1902.
The deep South has been the scene of decades-long tensions ever since but attacks by suspected separatists have sharply risen in recent weeks.
More than 3,700 people, including Buddhists and Muslims from different walks of life, have lost their lives in the violence since January 2004.
—–Agencies