Bombs Hit Banks in Southern Thailand

泰南部银行遭炸弹袭击

Thai police say at least 21 bombs have exploded at banks in the restive southern province of Yala, killing at least one person and wounding at least 20 others. Officials suspect militants set off the bombs Thursday at or near commercial banks in Yala's provincial capital and nearby districts. Many of the explosives were detonated by mobile phones after being hidden in trash bins.

Separatists insurgents have staged a series of attacks in Yala and two other Muslim-majority provinces in southern Thailand (Narathiwat and Pattani) since January 2004. The provinces were a Malay sultanate until Buddhist Thailand annexed them a century ago. More than 14-hundred people have been killed since the insurgency erupted.

泰国警方表示，在动乱的南方省份也拉的几家银行至少有21次炸弹爆炸，至少1人被炸死，20人受伤。泰国官员怀疑，激进分子星期四在也拉省省会和一些附近地区的商业银行里或周围引爆了这些炸弹。很多炸弹藏在垃圾桶里，用移动电话引爆。

自2004年1月以来，分离反叛分子在穆斯林占人口多数的泰国南方的也拉和另外两个省份发动了一系列袭击。这些省份原先是一个马来苏丹国。信奉佛教的泰国在一个世纪之前兼并这个地区。自从反叛活动爆发以来，已经有1400多人丧生。