BANGKOK -- Authorities said three soldiers were wounded following a bomb explosion in the volatile province of Yala on Tuesday noon while army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha and deputy Prime Minister Gen Yuthasak Sasiprapha were visiting and monitoring security affairs in the region. Three soldiers from a special task force in the district of Raman were injured in a bomb attack while they were on patrol along a road linking the provinces of Yala and Pattani. All three have been admitted to an area hospital. Police said the perpetrators may have wanted to threaten the army chief and the deputy premier. The two, along with other generals visited the three southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala on Tuesday morning to assess the situation and relay the government's 2012-2013 policies to local authorities.