Police: Suspected car bomb blast injures 12 in Thailand

(CNN) -- At least 12 people were injured when a bomb exploded in southern Thailand Sunday morning, police said.

The explosion caused a fire that burned down about a dozen houses, Yala Police Col. Krisada Kaewchandee said.

Investigators believe a car bomb caused the blast, he said.

The explosion occurred in a region that has seen a spike in suspected insurgent attacks recently.

Nine civilians were killed and two others were injured in a bombing in Yala province last month.

Muslim separatists in southern Thailand have long battled government forces in a country that is overwhelmingly Buddhist.

The conflict came to a head in 2004 after former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra took office. Several thousand people died in the resulting violence.