Two policemen were seriously injured in a roadside bomb explosion in a village in Nong Chik district of the southern province of Pattani this morning.

The two police officers who were members of a police team providing protection to teachers were riding in a motorcycle into Village 4 of Tambon Tooyoong.  As the motorbike moved past a power pole, suspected militants who might have laid in wait nearby detonated a home-made bomb hidden at the foot of the pole.

The force of the blast shattered the left legs of the two cops and bomb shrapnel punctured their bodies.  Police reinforcements later arrived at the scene and rushed the two injured officers to the district hospital for an emergency operation.

Meanwhile in neighbouring Narathiwat province, security forces  laid siege to Ban Tuekor in Janae district to hunt for suspected militants who were believed to be taking refuge in the village.

Latest report said that a firefight broke out between government forces and suspected militants.

Details of the clash were not available at the time this report was filed.