Soldiers wounded by bomb to restive S Philippine border

Four soldiers maintaining security on a road for the arrival of Thai prime minister at restive southern Philippine province were wounded by a bomb explosion on Wednesday. Yingluck Shinawatra and her entourage visited Muang district of Narathiwat province on Wednesday to inspect the ongoing insurgency problem in the southern border of Thailand. Pol Col Kwandee Chimplee, Muang district police chief, said the bomb which injured four soldiers of Narathiwat Task Force 30 occurred on the Narathiwat-Rangae road about 10.30 a.m. local time before the prime minister arrived the area. A bomb had been planted on the roadside and went off when the four soldiers were ordered to go there to remove a cloth banner which displayed message, insulting Thai military. More than 5,000 people have been killed and over 8,400 injured in the three southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, since violence erupted in January 2004, according to Deep South Watch, an agency that monitors the conflict in the southernmost provinces.