BANGKOK, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Arson attacks on 52 telephone towers in southern Thailand were militants' response to restrictions on the use of cell phones, the prime minister said.
More than 200 militants, mostly teenagers, went on a rampage Wednesday night, setting fires that interrupted phone services but caused no injuries, ThaiDay reported Friday.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the coordinated attacks across four southern border provinces were likely in retaliation against the required registration of SIM cards.
The government imposed the rule to curb the use of cell phones to detonate bombs, the prime minister said. Such attacks have diminished since unregistered pre-paid SIM cards were banned last November, but Malaysian mobile networks can still be used to trigger bombs close to the border.
Thaksin said Thursday that Bangkok was close to an agreement with Kuala Lumpur to reduce the strength of Malaysian phone signals along the border.
The southern region has been plagued by violence for two years, since the re-emergence of a decades-old Muslim separatist insurgency.
