NARATHIWAT, Feb 20 – Seventeen persons were wounded by a shooting and car bomb by presumed muslim insurgents Saturday night in the trouble-plagued southern province of Narathiwat.

The first incident occurred at a karaoke restaurant where two female workers were injured in a shooting late Saturday night. Half an hour later, while the police were investigating the restaurant shooting, a bomb went off 100 metres away, wounding 17 persons.

The police said the bombers placed explosives inside a car with a fake licence plate. The bomb was believed to have been detonated with a cell-phone.

MCOT