At least 16 people have been wounded in two roadside bomb blasts in Thailand's tense southern region. The first blast wounded seven people and the second blast near a food stall injured nine members of a police bomb squad investigating the earlier explosion in the provincial capital of Yala. The twin explosions on Friday come amid growing outrage over the deaths of 85 Muslim protesters in the southern region earlier this week. The protesters died - crushed to death or suffocated - after they were arrested and crammed on to military transport trucks following a crackdown on a demonstration on Monday in the Muslim-dominated south. The foreign ministry said three other protesters died under unexplained circumstances. **Backlash feared*** Muslim leaders have warned of a violent backlash to the tragedy. And an Islamic group has threatened to avenge the deaths. Friday's twin blasts followed an explosion at a beer bar in the border town of Sungai Kolok on Thursday night that killed two and injured more than 20. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Muslim villagers pray during a mass funeral in southern Thailand for demonstrators who died mainly from suffocation after being crammed on military trucks. (AFP)