Rebels Kill 3 Troops, 4 Wounded In Troubled Thai South

[george]

Rebels kill 3 troops in troubled Thai south: police

YALA, October 3, 2010 (AFP) - Suspected Islamic insurgents killed three soldiers and wounded another four in a gun fight with security forces and an ambush in the restive Thai south, police said Sunday.

A group of more than ten militants attacked six troops while they were patrolling in Yala province on Sunday morning, sparking a ten-minute gun fight in which two were killed and the other four were wounded.

The insurgents escaped the scene, police said.

On Saturday night in the same province, a soldier on foot patrol was shot during an ambush and later died in hospital.

More than 4,300 people, both civilians and security personnel, have been killed in the troubled Muslim-majority southernmost provinces of Thailand since a separatist insurgency erupted more than six years ago.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2010-10-03