A motorcycle bomb killed three civilians and wounded two dozen others on Monday at a bustling morning market in Thailand’s insurgency-hit south, the first such attack by suspected militants on a ‘soft target’ in the Muslim-majority region for months.
Monday’s bomb in Yala town at a packed market popular with Buddhists and Muslims may indicate that militants are once more aiming attacks at civilian targets.
At least two bodies lay slumped over debris in the narrow alleyway, surrounded by chunks of torn corrugated roofing, destroyed motorbikes and market stalls.
“The suspects parked the motorcycle in front of a stall selling pork in downtown Yala… it detonated 10 minutes later,” the policeman told AFP, requesting anonymity.
“Three civilians were killed. It’s the first big attack in downtown Yala in two years.”
Two of the dead were Buddhists — the other was Muslim — while 24 people were wounded, according to an official at Yala hospital.
It was not immediately clear if the bomb deliberately targeted the pork stall, and potentially its Buddhist customers.