More than 50 co-ordinated arson and incendiary attacks described as being "aimed at creating unrest" struck Thailand's insurgency-hit southern provinces, the military has said. Two people were injured and targets included a local government office, a convenience store and a stolen vehicle, with telecommunications towers also set alight in several locations. No group has claimed responsibility, but the attacks form part of a long-running low-level insurgency in the Muslim-majority southern provinces, where rebels have fought for greater autonomy from Buddhist-majority Thailand since 2004, a conflict that has killed more than 7,000 people.

The attacks took place across the southern border provinces between 20:00 local time and midnight on Saturday, with most reported in Narathiwat and others in neighbouring Yala and Pattani; two women were also injured by a bomb blast in Narathiwat's Muang district. Authorities imposed an overnight curfew in Narathiwat, lifted on Sunday morning with no further attacks reported. The violence follows the killing of five soldiers in a gun and bomb attack in July, which had already stalled Malaysia-facilitated peace talks, and comes ahead of a planned visit by Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to nearby Songkhla province next week.