A remote-controlled bomb exploded early Saturday, injuring four police and two civilians, in the latest violence in Thailand’s insurgency-plagued south.

A remote-controlled bomb exploded early Saturday, injuring four police and two civilians, in the latest violence in Thailand’s insurgency-plagued south, police said.

“The bomb was hidden in a garbage bin,” Col. Panya Karawanan, chief of police in Saiburee, Pattani province, told The Anadolu Agency.

“It exploded when border patrol officers were walking nearby on their way to accompany Buddhist monks on their morning alms round.”

Pattani is one of three provinces bordering Malaysia that have been troubled by violence since an insurgency reignited in 2004.

Police said the victims of the attack in Saiburee district were taken to a local hospital. Panya said he strongly suspected Muslim insurgents to be behind the attack.

The security forces, as well as Buddhist monks and government teachers, are regularly targeted by the militants.

Since the end of February there has been a series of bomb blasts, causing a large number of injuries but no fatalities as government forces struggle to impose control.

Following last May’s military coup, the junta announced its willingness to pursue a dialogue with the rebels that had been initiated by the previous government.

However, there has been no solid progress and the rebels seem reluctant due to the exclusion of the issue of political autonomy from any talks.