Girls killed, hurt in attack in Thailand's south

Police say a 12-year-old girl was killed and seven people, including two other girls, were wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Thailand's insurgency-plagued south.
Police Col Panya Karawanan said today that suspected insurgents detonated an improvised bomb near a military base in Sai Buri district in Pattani province, as a group of soldiers were finishing their patrol.
The last night attack came at the end of the Ramadan holy month, in which a spurt of attacks has occurred.
Panya said the explosion killed the 12-year-old and wounded two soldiers and five civilians, including a 7-year-old girl and her 1-year-old sister.

More than 5,000 people have been killed in Thailand's Muslim-dominated southernmost provinces since an Islamic insurgency erupted in 2004. The insurgents often target soldiers, police and civil servants.