New wave of arson attacks in south Thailand

[dArKeR]

BANGKOK - A soldier and a village chief were killed and around 50 cases of arson reported in fresh unrest in Thailand's Muslim-dominated south, officials said yesterday, but Thai leaders sought to downplay the violence.

Southern Thailand has been rocked by a wave of violence since January which has left at least 65 people dead and caused the worst crisis in Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's three-year-old administration.

Mr Thaksin, who has blamed the violence on Islamic militants and separatists tied to regional terror networks, quickly ruled out any international terrorism link to the latest unrest.

'The incidents last night were meant to disturb the government, and security forces arrested 10 people who are under investigation,' he told reporters during a tour of north-eastern provinces.

'This can be attributed purely to domestic factors, no outside factors were involved,' he said.

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