HAT YAI/BANGKOK: Nine bomb blasts targeting different areas in Thailand’s deep south have killed three people and injured 14 others, the military said on Friday.

Since 2004 more than 6,400 people have been killed, the majority civilians, in the kingdom’s southern provinces where insurgents are fighting for greater autonomy.

Col. Pramote Promin, spokesman for the military’s Internal Security Operations Command, said eight blasts Thursday night in Narathiwat province killed a soldier and two civilians. He said a ninth explosion of a 10-kg (22-pound) roadside bomb on Friday damaged a police car but did not cause any casualties. Police blamed separatist insurgents for the explosions.

Targets of the Thursday night attacks included residential areas, a Buddhist temple, telecommunications and waterworks buildings, a local government office and a royally sponsored development project. They were detonated with timing devices, while the blast on Friday was set off remotely by radio, Pramote said.

Thailand’s ruling junta says it wants peace and has made initial contacts with rebel leaders ahead of formal talks.

But observers say ongoing political uncertainty in Bangkok, where the military seized power from an elected government last May, is likely to deter the rebels from committing to anything substantial.

Malaysia hosted informal peace talks last month between Thai officials and a coalition of six rebel groups in an effort to reduce the violence in southern Thailand.