A time bomb exploded near a city hall in southern Thailand where the interior and defense ministers were meeting with police officials yesterday, while a policeman was fatally shot in spiraling violence in the Muslim-dominated region, officials said.
At least one person was injured in the explosion.
The policeman's death raised to at least 54 the number of people killed in ambushes and hit-and-run attacks this year in the three southern provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala -- the only Muslim majority region in this predominantly Buddhist country.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the government blames them on Islamic separatists reviving a decades-old independence campaign for the region, which borders Islamic Malaysia.
The explosion yesterday took place outside a bathroom of the local telecom office across from the city hall in Narathiwat, said police Lieutenant Pitak Sannak.
Soon after, bomb experts found a powerful time bomb in the underground car park of a bank 100m away from the telecom office and destroyed it, said a police official speaking on condition of anonymity.
At the time of the telecom office blast, Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula and Defense Minister General Chetta Thanajaro were meeting with senior police and other officials at the hall to take stock of the violence in the south.
"This explosion is regarded as another challenge to state authority," government spokesman Jakrapob Penkair said. "The government condemns this act for causing the ... country to deteriorate. There will be measures following this incident for sure."
He said Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is confident that the masterminds would be caught soon. "And they're getting nervous and are sending signals that they will continue what they're doing, like this explosion."
Earlier yesterday, four gunmen shot police Sergeant Surapol Prabpailee, 37, in the back of his head at close range in a busy market in the town Yala while he was directing traffic, said police Major Piyawat Kwansri. Surapol died on the spot and the gunmen melted away in the crowd.
Separately, bomb experts yesterday defused a time bomb placed in a box under a seat in a public park in Yala province's Bethong district, said police Lieutenant Somsak Saensilpa.
Southern Thailand's separatist movement died down in the late 80s but resurfaced two years ago and gained strength this year with a Jan. 4 raid on an army camp in which four soldiers were killed and more than 300 assault rifles were stolen.
A senior Thai senator yesterday accused police of torture in obtaining evidence that he helped plan the attack on the army arsenal.
Senator Den Tohmena, who represents the province of Pattani, said in a speech that Anupong Panthachayangkoon, a village headman held by police in connection with the attack, had lied about him because of police pressure.
Police said the senator and two members of parliament, all Mos-lems, had been named by the village headman and other suspects as masterminds behind the attack.
Police quoted in local press reports said the three politicians hoped to set up an independent Islamic nation centered in Pattani and promised high positions to those who took part in the attack.
"I never knew this village headman," Den said in a speech to the Senate yesterday. "I don't believe Anupong confessed, unless he was forced to do so by the police."
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