Militants killed Thai soldiers, burned their bodies

Bangkok

Suspected militants have shot dead two Thai soldiers and burned their bodies, police said today, in the latest outbreak of violence in the kingdom's insurgency-battered deep south.

The drive-by shooting in the Ruso district of Narathiwat province took place shortly before noon yesterday, the last day of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, a period when the region often sees a surge in attacks.

"Around nine gunmen on a pick-up truck followed the victims (in their pick-up truck) and first shot dead the driver," district police chief Rueangsak Buadaeng said, explaining the driver, aged 29, was one of the soldiers killed.

As the vehicle crashed into roadside food stalls, a second soldier, 22, was also shot dead, he said. Their bodies were then set alight in the truck, Rueangsak added. Police are still questioning eyewitnesses and have not made any arrests yet.

More than 6,300 people have been killed in the Thai south since 2004 in a conflict largely ignored by Thais and forgotten by the wider world. Rebels there are seeking greater autonomy for the three Muslim-majority provinces bordering Malaysia with near-daily violence between security forces and the insurgents rocking the region.

Rueangsak said three protest banners were found in the Ruso district yesterday with one reading "colonisers are inhumane and always lie to the international community".