Six police officers were seriously wounded in Narathiwat's Rangae district yesterday when an officer ignited explosives hidden under a mobile phone.

A 10-strong police squad was patrolling near a bridge between the villages of Chulabhorn and Kayumatee when a bomb exploded.

Not all the explosives were ignited, and the officers were unharmed, but the blast caused

a small crater near the bridge.

The militants opened fire, and the police fought back. No one was wounded after a 10-minute gun battle, and the militants escaped.

The officers combed the scene for evidence, finding a pair of slippers and a mobile phone

they believed belonged to the militants.

An officer picked up the phone, not realising it was an improvised explosive, which police believe was a trap for the patrol. The six officers were rushed to hospital.

A wave of explosions ripped through Narathiwat yesterday.

No one was hurt when a bomb went off in a teacher's back garden in Sungai Padi district at about 5.30am.

Police found wires and dynamite at the home of Somyot Thongmuang, 46, a Ban Sakor school teacher.

Officers investigated a black plastic bag found near a telephone booth on the Sungai Padi to Sakor road, only to find it was filled with fertiliser.

They believe the militants are trying to spark panic with a series of false alarms.

Another suspicious bag was found outside the home of Wanayeedeng Malaya, 63, close to a police checkpoint in Sungai Padi district.

The bag held explosives designed to be ignited by a mobile-phone signal.

After defusing the explosives, police found the phone, which had been used many times in failed attempts to set off the bomb.