15 injured in Thai bombings

15 injured in Thai bombings

THAILAND: Two remote-controlled bombs exploded minutes apart on Sunday at a market in violence-plagued southern Thailand, injuring 12 people including a 2-year-old boy and a Malaysian man, police said.

The first bomb was hidden in a fruit basket at the market in Narathiwat province's Sungai Kolok, a town on the border with Malaysia, said police Capt. Teerapak Sengseng.

About 10 minutes later, as police were investigating, the second bomb exploded 10 meters away.

Among the 12 who suffered minor injuries were a 2-year-old boy, a 58-year-old Malaysian man and three policemen, said Teerapak, one of the injured officers.

Meanwhile, three other people were injured in drive-by shootings nearby, police said.

Gunmen on the backs of motorcycles fired at two men in Narathiwat's Cho Airong district, said police Lt. Watana Detampai. A five-months-pregnant milk vendor was shot at in a similar attack in Sungai Padi district, said police Lt. Nathiwuth Deekaew.

Separately, police said they had charged 16 suspects with murder and arson over an Oct. 16 attack on a temple in the southern province of Pattani. The attackers hacked to death an elderly man and fatally shot two boys working at the temple, then set fire to the monks' living quarters. -- AP