School bombing wounds 18 in Thailand

Hospital workers yesterday carry an injured Thai soldier wounded in a bomb attack by suspected separatist militants in Thailand’s restive southern province of Yala

Three young children and 15 adults were wounded when a bomb hidden in a parked motorcycle exploded at a school in the restive Thai south yesterday morning, police said.
The device, detonated by mobile phone, was believed to be aimed at soldiers who had gathered outside after escorting teachers to the school in a district of Yala, one of three insurgency-plagued provinces.
Police said seven people were in a serious condition after the attack, adding none of the military personnel was hurt in the bombing.
Panu Uthairat, secretary general of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre, said intelligence reports suggested an increased risk of violence in the Muslim-majority region ahead of Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month.
In another attack a 68-year-old retired police officer was shot dead in front of his wife’s beauty parlour in Pattani province on Monday night.
More than 4,500 people, both Muslims and Buddhists, have died in almost daily attacks since shadowy insurgents launched an uprising in Thailand’s southernmost region in early 2004.
Thailand’s outgoing government extended a state of emergency across the restive deep south during its last cabinet meeting last week.
Critics accuse the government of failing to address the grievances of Thailand’s Malay Muslims, including alleged abuses by the military and a perceived lack of respect for their ethnic identity, language and religion.
Teachers working in state schools are frequently targeted because they are seen as a symbol of government authority and an education system perceived as an effort by Bangkok to impose Buddhist culture.