1/16/2005 3:30:00 PM GMT
Source:AP
A bomb exploded in the Muslim dominated southern region of Thailand killing one person and injuring 59 others, officials said.
The bomb went off in a very popular noodle shop in the district capital of the Yala province. Thai authorities claim that the bomb was planted by Muslim rebels.
The one confirmed death is the shop owner, while ten others are in critical condition.
It's not certain who planted the bomb, but witnesses say it may have been a woman who was posing as a customer. The woman left her purse on a chair and left the shop right before the explosion.
While bombings are occasional, shootings have been occurring nearly daily, though most of those targeted are officials and security personnel. Few, if any, of the attackers have been women.
Police say the bomb was activated using a mobile phone. Initial investigations show it contained power gel, an industrial explosive which is utilised in rock blasting.
Previous bombings in the area have used the same components of which large quantities are reported to have been stolen from quarries and construction sites in the past few years.
The three southernmost Thai provinces have been the sites of violence which the police have repeatedly claimed are caused by the revived Muslim separatist movement. Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani are the only Muslim dominated provinces in Thailand.
Thai Muslims have always complained of being treated as second-class citizens in the mostly Buddhist country.