Fresh protests from Yellows YALA, Thailand: A powerful roadside bomb killed nine civilians and wounded two others in Thailand's restive deep south Tuesday, an attack blamed on separatist insurgents, police said. The victims were all Buddhists and were travelling in a pick-up truck to hunt wild pigs when the bomb exploded in Yala, one of three predominantly Muslim provinces plagued by violence since a separatist rebellion resurfaced seven years ago. The incident was the second major attack in six days and will be a blow to the government and security forces, which say violence has reduced significantly in recent months, citing tighter security and successful public relation campaigns. Four soldiers were killed and at least five others wounded on Wednesday when rebels armed with grenades and assault rifles stormed an army outpost in Narathiwat. Thai media said at least 20 rifles were stolen in the raid. Police said Tuesday's bomb was planted in the road and detonated remotely by cellphone, destroying the truck. Roadside blasts are common in the rubber-rich region, but military and police patrols are usually the targets. The violence, which has been limited to the border region, is believed to be the work of ethnic Malay militants and has claimed more than 4,300 lives since January 2004. Meanwhile, Thailand's government faced renewed street protests Tuesday as the right-wing nationalist group that seized Bangkok's airports two years ago gathered in the capital to pressure the prime minister over a land dispute with Cambodia. The rally by the People's Alliance for Democracy – also known as the Yellow Shirts – and an associated fringe group are raising tensions in a country still recovering from political violence last year that turned parts of the capital into a war zone. Police on Monday arrested five men accused of plotting to bomb the protest. The demonstrators set up a stage along a major street near the UN's Asian headquarters and Government House, the prime minister's office that the Yellows occupied for three months in 2008. By late afternoon more than 2,000 people were camped in the area and tents and toilets were being set up. The protesters want the government to revoke a pact with Cambodia on settling border disputes; withdraw from the UN Education Scientific and Culture Organization World Heritage Committee, which approved Cambodia's application for landmark status for a temple on the border; and force Cambodian residents off land the group claims should belong to Thailand.
