UPDATE - Father and young daughter die in blast in Thai south

UPDATES THROUGHOUT

By CS Thana and Max Constant

BANGKOK (AA) - A bomb placed in front of a school in Thailand's Muslim majority south has killed a four-year-old schoolgirl and her father and injured eight other people.

The incident -- in which teachers, parents, and police officers were injured -- is the latest in a series of violent attacks in the three southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, which have been plagued for decades by a separatist insurgency.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Nopadol Kingtong, an investigator at Tak Bai police station, told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday that the bomb had exploded at 8.25 a.m. (0125GMT) as police directed traffic in front of Ban Taba school in the Tak Bai district of Narathiwat.

“A father and his four-year old girl on the way to the school were injured and died later at the hospital. Four policemen and four civilians were injured,” he added.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan later told reporters that security would be increased in anticipation of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which starts Sep. 12.

Analysts have claimed that previous Eid holidays have coincided with an increase in activity by insurgents, who are accused of using such holidays to recruit locals.

In a statement released later Tuesday, UNICEF voiced "deep concern" about the continuing violence in the south and its impact on children.

"UNICEF is shocked and saddened by this incident. Schools must be places of learning, discovery and recreation for children," Thomas Davin, UNICEF's Representative for Thailand said.

"No children, n'or any caretakers or education professionals should live or learn under fear of such attacks. All schools must become safe heavens."

It called on all parties to do everything in their power to ensure that children are protected and no more children fall victim of violence.

Since 13 bombs hit tourist areas Aug. 11 and 12 in the country's upper south, the number of violent incidents in the south has been on the rise.

Last Saturday, a remote control bomb placed on the tracks near Khokpo train station in Pattani province exploded when the Sungai Kolok – Hat Yai train was passing.

It tore apart the last carriage of the train, killed one railway employee and injured another, as well as the train station chief and a defense volunteer.

Police have attributed the attack to a local cell of the insurgency movement they claim is led by a man named Seri Waemamu, who is on a list of wanted insurgent suspects.

The blasts occurred a few days after a round of talks between the military government and Mara Patani, an umbrella organization of rebel groups claiming to represent insurgents, ended inconclusively.

The talks, which took place in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur with the local government acting as a facilitator, could not finalize the Terms of Reference for further negotiations, according to Gen. Ansari Kerdphol, the lead negotiator of the military government delegation.

This meeting came amid concerns from local analysts that Mara Patani does not represent active groups operating on the ground.

The southern insurgency is rooted in a century-old ethno-cultural conflict between Malay Muslims living in the southern region and the Thai central state, where Buddhism is considered the de-facto national religion.

Armed insurgent groups were formed in the 1960s after the then-military dictatorship tried to interfere in Islamic schools, but the insurgency faded in the 1990s.

In 2004, a rejuvenated armed movement – composed of numerous local cells of fighters loosely grouped around an organization called the National Revolutionary Front or BRN – emerged.

The confrontation is one of the deadliest low-intensity conflicts on the planet, with over 7,000 persons killed and over 11,000 injured since 2004.

Two people died early Tuesday when a motorcycle bomb exploded opposite an elementary school in Thailand's troubled south.

A spokesman for Internal Security Operations Command told reporters that the blast killed a father and his five-year-old daughter.

"This is the work of evil people who want to create a situation," said Pramote Krome-in, from the unit of the military devoted to national security.

The explosion occurred at 8 a.m. (0100GMT) as families dropped their children off at the school in Narathiwat province.

Narathiwat is one of three majority Malay Muslim provinces in the south wracked by insurgency.

Regular bomb attacks and drive-by shootings occur in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, where more than 7,000 people have been killed since January 2004 when an insurgency dormant for years reignited.