Security forces inspect the site where suspected insurgents set off two roadside bombs ahead of a gunfight. Three soldiers were injured in the shooting.

The two devices were placed 50 metres apart in this remote district and sent a chill through the three southernmost provinces where more than 1,200 people have been killed in two years.

Officials said at least 15 marines were on a routine patrol when the two bombs went off one after the other in an attempt to destroy the truck. The first blast created a 1.5-metre-deep, 2.5-metre-wide crater in the road, while the second left a half-a-metre hole.

Back-up soldiers arriving at the scene appeared dazed at the power of the bombs and expressed relief that no bystanders were hit. The truck was riddled with bullets.

The ambush came one day after a string of pre-dawn arson attacks in eight other districts. Mobile phone transmission towers, vehicles, a public school, phone booths and post offices were set aflame on Thursday evening.

A fire gutted a school in Pattani, while the phone enclosures were slightly damaged.

Lt-General Palangkoon Klaharn, spokesman for the multi-agency Southern Border Provinces Peace-Building Command, said Thursday's attacks suggested "soft targets" may become the preferred choice for the separatists.

The rebels' aim is to make the area as ungovernable as possible, Palangkoon said.

Besides the security forces, Thursday's strikes also spooked the nearby province of Songkhla where areas in the districts of Saba Yoi and Thepa came under direct attack.

Saba Yoi district chief Preecha Damkernkiert expressed concern over the possibility of more violence in his district.

Violence over the past two years had been concentrated in the provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. Saba Yoi received international attention on April 28, 2002 when police reportedly gun downed an entire soccer team accused of being part of the separatist movement that launched  attacks on 10 police outposts.

Amornrat Khemkhao

The Nation

Rusoh, Narathiwat