6 bombs explode in commercial district in restive southern Thailand, wounding 10

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Six bombs ripped through a key commercial district in restive southern Thailand Sunday, wounding 10 people, police said.

The attacks in Hat Yai, where scores of Malaysians, Singaporeans and Indonesians spend their weekends, took place near two hotels, two pharmacies, a department store and a restaurant, Police Lt. Pod Suansuwan said.

The bombs outside the two pharmacies were placed in motorcycles and triggered by a timer, Police Col. Jetanakorn Maneetapad said.

Thailand's Muslim-dominated south has been wracked by violence in recent months. Citizens there have complained of rights abuses by soldiers and discrimination by the country's Buddhist majority.

Last September, six homemade bombs exploded in Hat Yai, killing four people, including a Canadian who became the first Westerner to die in the separatist insurgency.

Since the Muslim rebellion flared in early 2004, drive-by shootings and other attacks have killed more than 2,200 people.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)