PASIR MAS, MALAYSIA: Police have arrested three Thais and seized an unknown number of devices believed to be home-made bombs from a house at Kampung Repek here.

Sources said police also discovered chemical fertilisers.

The suspects were believed to have been renting the house for the past 12 months.

Local residents were shocked when police surrounded the house at 9am yesterday.

Rahman Che Lah, 56, said the suspects had gone about their business of catching eels for sale from the nearby padi field all this while.

"Now we know who these people are and it is shocking to know that they have been producing bombs here," he said.

Sources said the bombs were believed to have been produced here but could be for use in a neighbouring country.

He said the bombs might be meant for suspected militants or insurgents who were said to be responsible for the unrest in southern Thailand.

The source said the arrest and seizure of the home-made bombs might be the tip of the iceberg and could provide more insight into the workings of an underground group operating in Kelantan.

Several police trucks and a bomb disposal unit was in the village.

Several police personnel were also seen loading seized items onto a lorry.

Last week, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had during a visit to south Thailand reaffirmed Malaysia's support towards finding a solution to the problems in the affected areas.