A series of bomb blasts rocked the Thai capital late Sunday, killing at least two people and capping a year of unrest in the country.
Just after midnight, two more bombs went off near Central World Plaza, a mall in downtown Bangkok where New Year's Eve celebrations were earlier cancelled.Bomb squad officers search for clues at the scene of an explosion Sunday in downtown Bangkok.
(David Longstreath/Associated Press)
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the bombings in Bangkok, which injured 26, police said.
At least six foreigners were among the injured, including two British citizens who were being treated in hospital, the BBC reported.
Before the most recent pair of explosions, police spokesman Gen. Ajirawit Suphanaphesat had said on the iTV television network that there were at least six bomb blasts.
Ajirawit said six people were injured by a bomb in a slum, and four by a bomb near a department store at Victory Monument, a major traffic circle. He said the other blasts were near a police post, where two were injured, and in a northern suburb.
Bombings and shootings occur almost daily in Thailand's three southernmost provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani, where an Islamic insurgency that flared in January 2004 has killed more than 1,900 people.
Thailand is a largely Buddhist country, but Muslims make up the majority in the deep south, where they have long complained of discrimination.
The insurgents are not known to have launched any attacks in Bangkok.
Thailand has also been immersed in political turmoil. In September, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a bloodless coup by Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin.
The military installed Surayud Chulanont as the interim prime minister until elections in October 2007.
With files from the Associated Press
