Explosion at crowded teashop in Yala injures 14


A bomb exploded Monday at a busy teashop in Yala's Banang Sta district, injuring 14 people, two of whom seriously.


Police believed the bomb was hidden inside the teashop that is frequent by district officials and local residents in this violent prone area where daily roadside bomb attacks and gunfights between insurgents and government forces has become daily occurrences.

Initial investigation showed that the bomb was hidden in the teashop and set off remotely.

While Buddhistowned restaurants that are usually frequent by security officials and civilians have come under bomb attacks over the past three years, the past recent months showed that a growing number of Muslimowned outlets have come under bomb and grenade attacks.

Last week in Yala's Muang district saw a group of men in pickup truck tossing a grenade inside a local teashop frequent by Muslims, prompting local residents to suggest that a small form of communal violence is slowly taking shape.

More than 2,300 people have been killed in Thailand's southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat since January 2004 when an insurgency erupted.

The Nation