Five killed by Thailand car bomb

Thai police examine the wreckage
of a pickup truck after a 
bomb hidden in it exploded 
killing five people (AP) 

Suspected Muslim insurgents have detonated a car bomb in Thailand's violence-prone south, killing five people and wounding a dozen others.

Police said suspected militants opened fire today on a gold shop in Pattani province's Sai Buri district. No one was hurt and the militants fled the scene.

When security forces arrived at the scene, two improvised bombs hidden in gas canisters in a nearby pickup truck went off.

An administrative official and five civilians were killed, while several policemen were wounded.

More than 5,000 people have been killed in Thailand's three Muslim-dominated southernmost provinces since an Islamist insurgency erupted in 2004.-Independent (September 21, 2012)