BANGKOK (AFP) - A bomb blast killed two top provincial officials on Friday in Thailand’s insurgency-plagued south, authorities said, blaming the attack on rebel fighters seeking to derail peace talks. The deputy governor of Yala province, Issara Thongthawat, was killed along with Yala permanent secretary responsible for security, Chavalit Krairisk, after a roadside bomb struck their vehicle, officials said. Issara, 56, was rushed to hospital but later died, army spokesman Colonel Pramote Promin told AFP by telephone. He said the deputy governor appeared to have been targeted by militants while on his way to attend a local food fair. “Explosive material was put inside a gas cylinder and hidden under the road,” he said.