Bomb explodes as trucks carrying soldiers pass, wounding 7 in Thailand’s restive south

Bomb hits truck carrying Thai soldiers; 7 wounded

BANGKOK — Police say suspected insurgents detonated a bomb as two truckloads of soldiers passed, wounding seven troops in Thailand’s restive south.

Police Lt. Heraman Jehdee says the attack happened Monday afternoon soon after the vehicles with 38 soldiers left a camp in Bo-ngo sub-district in Narathiwat province. He says police found a gas canister at the scene used to plant the mobile phone-triggered explosive device.

More than 4,000 people have been killed in Thailand’s three southern provinces since an Islamist insurgency flared in 2004. The provinces are the only Muslim-majority areas in the predominantly Buddhist country, and Muslims have long complained of discrimination by the central government.