Two policemen injured by IED near power plant in southern Thailand

Two policemen were injured in an IED explosion near a power plant in southern Thailand.

Thepha Police Station officers were out on patrol when the explosive was detonated along a road near a biomass power plant in Songkhla province on July 23 morning.

Their Isuzu pickup was caught in the blast, sustaining damage to its bonnet, windscreen, bumper, doors, and engine compartment.

Police Colonel Thammarat Petchnongchum, superintendent of the Thepha Police Station, said: 'Two out of the four police officers were injured in this explosion and have been taken to the hospital.

'Their injuries are not serious. The other two uninjured individuals are under observation.'

He added that the suspected bombing was intended to sow fear in the region. The road has been temporarily closed for safety.

Soldiers and an explosive ordnance team were inspecting the area for more possible IEDs.

The incident comes just a day after six officers were injured by another bomb in southern Thailand.

The cops were conducting patrols when a bomb was allegedly detonated along the highway in Nong Chik district in Pattani province on July 22.

The six injured policemen were taken to a hospital, while access along Highways 42 and 43 was restricted following the incident.

Islamic separatist terror attacks target the three southernmost provinces of Thailand - Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat - next to the border with Mulsim neighbors Malaysia. Thai state employees and infrastructure are often hit while attacks on civilians are rare.

Officials believe the conflict dates to a deal in 1909 that the British Empire struck to incorporate the Muslim region into the Siamese mainland.

The region's culture is more similar to Malaysia and dramatically different to Buddhist Thais causing decades of tension that lead to the emergence of separatist groups fighting for independence in the 1960s.

The struggle has continued ever since with more than 7,344 people killed and 13,641 injured between January 2004 and March 2022.

The British Foreign & Commonwealth Office warns against all but essential travel to the region while Canada's government warns its nationals to 'avoid all travel' to the three provinces.