Thai army given increased role in south

The Thai government has announced that the army will be put in control of security in four provinces in the south following a bomb attack which left three people dead and fourteen injured.

The interior minister ,Sanan Kachornprasart,said the move would improve intelligence gathering in the provinces of Yala, Naraphiwat, Songahkla and Pattani.

Thai officials say they suspect either separatist Muslim groups or drugs traffickers of involvement in the attack at a fair in the province of Yala.

There have been a series of violent acts in the predominantly Muslim southern provinces in the last two months.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service