A twin bomb blast struck a school in insurgency-plagued southern Thailand on Tuesday, officials said, killing two soldiers and injuring one student in a new setback to peace efforts.
Education workers, and the troops who guard them, are a top target for Muslim militants who have waged a nine-year-old campaign of violence that has left thousands of people dead.
Authorities said that militants behind Tuesday’s attack planted a first bomb to lure soldiers and then detonated a second device after they arrived at the scene.
“Two soldiers died and a male student and one soldier were injured,” army spokesman Colonel Pramote Promin said by telephone.
“The bomb was hidden under a bench near the security guard post inside the school,” he said, accusing the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) rebel group of orchestrating the attack.
“It’s the work of the BRN, which is obsessed with violence,” he said.