Man left with shrapnel wounds after another bomb attack in Thailand’s Deep South

A man was rushed to a hospital with shrapnel wounds on his torso after an attacker threw a bomb next to a security booth last in Yala in Thailand’s Deep South, a region with ongoing violence related to the religious separatist insurgency. Earlier that night, gunmen shot another man on a motorcycle in Bannang Sata, the same district of Yala where the bomb attack happened. The man was shot twice in his leg. He was also taken to the hospital. Police continue to investigate the attacks.

Part of Thailand’s most conflicted region, Yala has been the site of bombings and shootings by separatist militant groups. In November, a parked motorcycle exploded on a rural road in Yala and damaged vehicles carrying ballot boxes from a local election. That month, 86,000 police officers were deployed to keep the peace at polling stations.

Yala used to be part of the Pattani Kingdom before it came under Siamese control in 1785, and officially became part of Thailand in 1909. Like other provinces in Thailand’s Deep South, Yala has deep religious tensions between Muslims and Buddhists. About 72% of people in Yala are Malay-speaking Muslims, and the rest are Thai Buddhists. Islamist separatist groups want Yala and three other Deep South provinces to become an autonomous area with an Islamic education system taught in the Malay language.

Read more about the Southern Thailand insurgency HERE.

SOURCES: Bangkok Post |CMG of Thailand