(VOVworld) – Thai police said on Monday that the suspects in a spate of bomb attacks on Thailand's tourist towns have links to southern Muslim rebels.

Thai police at the crime scene of the bombing attack in Phuket island on August 12th (Photo: Reuters)

This is the first time that a clear link has been made to the insurgency. No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing, which hit popular resorts across the south this month, killing four and wounding dozens including European visitors. Three arrest warrants have now been issued by a military court – all for Muslim men from the south with previous links to the southern insurgency.

More than 6,500 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in ten years of violence by rebel groups seeking greater autonomy for Thailand's three southernmost provinces.