BANGKOK - Bomb blasts rocked three Buddhist temples in Thailand's restive Muslim-dominated south within an hour late Sunday, damaging the buildings but causing no injuries, police said.

The temples were located in three districts of Narathiwat province which lies next to the Malaysian border, provincial police commander Colonel Kachen Kochtarayu told AFP .

"The bombs were planted in front of the gates of all three temples. They destroyed the gates and hit part of the temples but the damage was not serious and no one was injured," he said, adding that the temple walls were hit.

"We are investigating. We believe that the people behind the explosions are people who want to create unrest. We don't know who they are or what kind of bombs were used," he said.

Kachen said officers were now collecting evidence from the scene and searching for witnesses.

Thailand's south has been hit this year by a campaign of bombings, arson attacks and murders targetting government officials, security forces and Buddhist monks.

In crimes that shocked the nation, three monks were killed in separate incidents in January, each involving assailants on motorcycles who slashed them as they walked in public receiving alms.

Gov't criticised

The attacks on the symbols of Buddhism mark a new turn in the troubles in the south, home to most of Thailand's minority Muslims, as the two communities have historically lived alongside each other peacefully.

The violence escalated dramatically on April 28 when 108 Muslim rebels were killed as they mounted disastrous coordinated assaults on police stations and checkpoints.

A Muslim insurgency raged in the south until the 1980s, but the movement fragmented and attacks dropped off until January when a raid on an army weapons depot left four soldiers dead and heralded a new wave of violence.

Thailand's government has been sharply criticised for its handling of the unrest, particularly the April raids which ended when security forces stormed an historic mosque in Pattani province and killed all 32 rebels hiding inside.

The young men involved in the raids were mostly armed only with machetes, and were cut down by heavily armed police and army who had been tipped off to their plans.

In response to criticism, Thailand has set up an independent committee to investigate whether excessive force was used at the mosque, and funds have been earmarked to renovate the building which was left bloodied and bullet-marked.

Closing in on ringleaders

Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yonchaiyudh, who is in charge of security affairs, said earlier this month that government forces were on the verge of capturing up to 19 ringleaders behind this year's violence.

However, since then the violence has continued with more bombings and murders.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra earlier this month visited the south and went to the mosque, in a bid to patch up strained relations with Thai Muslims after the unrest which was the worst in the kingdom's recent history.

Malaysia, which has signalled its concern over the unrest on its border, has reportedly deployed a fourth battalion to the area and forged an agreement with Thailand to build four new military posts along their frontier.

"We are discussing with them (Thailand) on how to patrol the border to check the activities of elements who could threaten the security of both countries," Malaysia's army chief General Mohamad Azumi Mohamed was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency. - AFP