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Small bombs hit Thai south, 1 dead

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BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- At least 10 bombs exploded, nearly simultaneously, at commercial banks across predominantly Muslim southern Thailand Thursday, killing one person and wounding 18 others, authorities said.

The bombings began at 11 a.m. (12 a.m. ET) and were staged at eight commercial banks in downtown Yala and two commercial banks in the provincial capital's Yaha district.

"It's chaotic we do not know what to do," a overwhelmed police officer on the scene said.

"This is a coordinated operation. It happened within the same hour," a Thai army officer said. "It caught us by surprise."

More than 1,300 people have been killed in Thailand's three Muslim-dominated provinces -- Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat -- since a resurgence of a violent Islamic separatist movement in January 2004. Most of Thailand is Buddhist.

The provinces are more than 600 miles (1,100 km) south of the capital, Bangkok.

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