A roadside blast killed five security officers traveling to the scene of a fatal shooting in the south of Thailand yesterday, police said, amid a spike in attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The officers, responding to reports that a man had been shot on Thursday night in a rubber plantation in Narathiwat Province, were targeted by one of two bombs hidden on the route into the area.
“Our officials went to the scene, but there was an explosion on the way,” said police Lieutenant Colonel Prakard Eiadklai, inspector at the local Rue Soh District police station.
He said one person was wounded in the attack. The second bomb was defused and authorities were later able to reach the body of the shooting victim.
In a separate blast in Yala on Thursday, five refuse collectors were wounded, two of them seriously, on their morning rounds when a device hidden in a garbage bag was detonated.
About 4,800 people have been killed since rebels launched an uprising in early 2004, according to the latest figures from Deep South Watch, which monitors the conflict in Thailand’s three southernmost provinces.
The organization, which has recorded 73 attacks since the beginning of this month, said violence in the Muslim majority south normally intensifies during Ramadan, which ends on Monday.
However, Supaporn Panasnachee of Deep South Watch said this year the spike during the religious fasting month comes amid intensifying conflict.
“The trend of a higher frequency and more violent attacks started a few months ago,” she said, adding that there were 69 incidents last month.
Rights groups say the militants are rebelling against a long history of perceived discrimination against ethnic Malay Muslims in the deep south by authorities in the Buddhist-majority nation, including alleged abuses by the army.
However, the militants keep a low profile and have not publicly stated their goals.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese