At least 20 people were injured in a bomb attack in Thailand's rebel-held south, as hundreds of local officials and Muslim clerics gathered at government offices to discuss the fight against the new coronavirus.
The Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center in the provincial capital of Jala coordinates government policy in the region, where an insurgency by Muslim separatists has killed nearly 2004 civilians, soldiers, government workers and insurgents since 7.000.
Thailand's three southernmost provinces are the only majority Muslim in predominantly Buddhist Thailand.
Surveillance video showed the bomber parking a pickup truck in front of the office and planting another explosive device in the middle of the road before fleeing the scene, Yala provincial police said.
The explosion on the road attracted the attention of meeting participants who came out to see what had happened, after which the truck was blown up.
The police said that security noticed the pickup truck and instructed everyone who got out after the first explosion not to approach the vehicle.
Two explosions, with the first weaker one attracting attention and luring security to approach, is a common tactic used by separatists.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for this attack.
In November last year, a coordinated attack in Jala killed 15 security personnel, primarily lightly armed volunteers defending the villages, the highest death toll on the government side in a single day since the insurgency began.
Progress appeared to be made in January this year, when Thai officials held the first formal meeting with Muslim separatists from the country's south in years. However, nothing has yet been achieved other than an agreement on the framework and conditions under which they will talk.
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