Yingluck unfazed by latest Deep South blast

March 02, 2013
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NARATHIWAT, Thailand – Less than a day after Thailand signed a deal to hold peace talks with one of several rebel groups in the Deep South, two bombs exploded in busy Muang market early Friday (March 1st), one of which injured six people, at least one critically, AFP reported.

  • Investigators search through a site of one of two explosions in Narathiwat on Friday (March 1st). The pickup truck bomb injured no one outside an outlet store. An earlier explosion hidden in a motorcycle injured six people outside a morning market. Both blats occurred less than 24 hours after Thai officials signed a deal to hold peace talks with Barisan Revolusi Nasional, a rebel group. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra downplayed the attack. [Rapee Mama/Khabar]

    Investigators search through a site of one of two explosions in Narathiwat on Friday (March 1st). The pickup truck bomb injured no one outside an outlet store. An earlier explosion hidden in a motorcycle injured six people outside a morning market. Both blats occurred less than 24 hours after Thai officials signed a deal to hold peace talks with Barisan Revolusi Nasional, a rebel group. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra downplayed the attack. [Rapee Mama/Khabar]

Police say the injuries were sustained when a bomb hidden in a motorcycle in Narathiwat town detonated in an area considered a "safe zone" given the strong security presence there. No one was killed or injured by a second bomb hidden inside a pickup truck parked near a retail outlet near Muang Narathiwat police station.

On Thursday, the Thai government agreed to hold talks with Barisan Revolusi Nasional, part of a web of insurgent groups in the Deep South provinces. Malaysia will host the talks later this month.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra seemed undeterred by the market blast. "The signing yesterday does not mean that the violence will stop immediately," she told reporters.

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