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Thailand PM calls security talks | Thailand PM calls security talks |
(about 3 hours later) | |
Thailand's Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has called a security meeting after a wave of bombings and shootings that killed at least seven people. | |
Some 30 bombs went off in southern Thailand in one of the region's worst outbreaks of violence since a Muslim insurgency flared up three years ago. | |
Schools, bars, hotels, a car showroom and a power station were targeted. | |
Thai officials believe the attacks were timed to coincide with the start of the Chinese New Year celebrations. | |
Public targets | Public targets |
Prime Minister Surayud summoned military and security chiefs for emergency talks on the latest attacks. | |
Most of the blasts happened about 1900 (1200 GMT) on Sunday. | |
VIOLENCE-HIT SOUTH Home to most of Thailand's 4% Muslim minority Muslim rebels fought the government up to the mid-1980s Suspected militants have upped attacks since 2004, targeting BuddhistsSecurity forces' response criticised by rights groups Thailand's restive south | |
Petrol stations, karaoke bars, hotels, a golf course and a cinema were hit in the southern province of Yala. | |
At least one person was killed in blasts at five karaoke bars in Narathiwat province. Two public schools in the province also were torched. | |
Firebombings targeted electricity transmitters in Pattani province, causing power blackouts across Pattani town, police said. | |
Three people were shot dead by unidentified assailants. An army major was killed, and his seven-year-old son wounded, by a bomb left in a bag outside his home. | |
At least 45 people were injured in the wave of attacks. | |
Police have advised people in the southern provinces to stay at home following the attacks. | |
Malaysian help | |
Army spokesman Col Acra Pritroch said the aim of the attackers was to show that the government could not maintain security during the Lunar New Year. | Army spokesman Col Acra Pritroch said the aim of the attackers was to show that the government could not maintain security during the Lunar New Year. |
"They use the festival time to show that there is not peace in the three provinces in the south," he said on Thai television. | "They use the festival time to show that there is not peace in the three provinces in the south," he said on Thai television. |
Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Thailand's south since an insurgency was launched there in January 2004. | |
Violence has surged since the military seized power in a bloodless coup in September. | |
On Friday, Gen Surayud said Thailand was willing to hold talks with separatists with the help of neighbouring Malaysia in the army-appointed leader's latest olive branch. | |
The Muslim-majority provinces were once independent but the region was annexed by Thailand 100 years ago. | The Muslim-majority provinces were once independent but the region was annexed by Thailand 100 years ago. |
Most of the population in the region are ethnic Malays who have long felt discriminated against by the Buddhist majority in Thailand, the BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says. |