3 killed in South: police

Suspected insurgents have shot dead three civilians in the Muslim-majority south of Thailand, where a five-year-long separatist rebellion is raging, police said Tuesday.

A 41-year-old woman and her 40-year-old husband were killed in a drive-by shooting in Pattani province on Tuesday morning, police said.

The previous night in neighbouring Narathiwat province, a 28-year-old man was shot dead in a similar attack, while his friend was critically wounded.

More than 3,500 people have been killed since separatist unrest erupted in January 2004 in the far southern region. Tensions have simmered since Thailand annexed the mainly Malay sultanate in 1902.