Thailand: Two bombs explode outside govt office in Yala province

In Thailand, two bombs exploded in front of a government office in the insurgency-hit southern Yala province. According to reports the bombs which exploded on March 17, injured 18 people. The explosions took place in front of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center (SBPAC). The SBPAC is a Thai government body that oversees the administration of three provinces.

No deaths reported

The provinces that SBPAC oversees are Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala which are three mostly Malay-Muslim majority provinces. An ongoing insurgency in these provinces has killed some 7,000 people since 2004. Prior to the explosions, the SBPAC was hosting a government meeting regarding the region’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.

As per reports, Colonel Pramote Prom-in, a military regional security spokesman claimed that the first explosion was from a hand grenade that was thrown outside the SBPAC office fence, the explosion was meant to draw people out. The second explosion came in the form of a car bomb that was parked 10 metres from the first explosion. This explosion was reportedly hidden in a pick-up truck that was parked near the fence. The second explosion took place roughly ten minutes after the first explosion and among the wounded were five reporters, five police officers, two soldiers, and other bystanders. As per reports, the explosions injured 18 people.

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No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack and claims of responsibility are rare following such attacks. The population of the region is 80 per cent Muslim while the rest of the nation is overwhelmingly Buddhist. An insurgency has been going on and off for decades as the groups that form the insurgency have demanded autonomy for the Muslim majority region. A peace dialogue between the Thai government and the main insurgent group, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) is taking place again this year after the group pulled out off the peace process in 2014.

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