15 dead in 2 attacks in S. Thailand

A roadside bomb killed 10 paramilitary troops Thursday in southern Thailand, while in a separate attack, gunmen fired into a mosque and killed five people, an official said, in some of the worst recent violence in the region.

The bomb went off as government-hired paramilitary rangers drove by, killing 10 of them, said Thai army spokesman Col. Akara Thiprote. Two rangers were slightly wounded.

"The rangers were coming back from their mission to negotiate with Muslim protesters in another district," he said.

The bombing took place in Bannang Sata district, part of an area that has been under a military curfew following a mosque bombing and a grenade attack on a tea shop that killed 10 people and wounded more than 20 others on March 14.

Almost immediately after Thursday's bombing, an unknown number of assailants opened fire on a group of Muslim villagers leaving a mosque after evening prayers in nearby Sabayoi district of Songkhla province, killing five, Akara said.

"The insurgents opened fire on the Muslim villagers and put the blame on the authorities," Akara said.

Thailand is overwhelmingly Buddhist, but Muslims are a majority in the deep south, where they have long complained of discrimination.

Buddhists living and working in southern Thailand have been the targets of Muslim insurgents. However, Muslims _ mostly working for the government _ have increasingly fallen victim to the violence in recent months.

Thai military authorities have blamed such attacks on Muslims bent on intensifying hatred against the government and to radicalize other Muslims and push them into joining the insurgency.

Some Muslims believe the security forces or even Buddhist vigilantes might have a hand in the killings.

Since a Muslim rebellion flared in the three southernmost provinces in early 2004, near-daily bombings, drive-by shootings and other attacks have killed more than 2,200 people.