Three Muslims killed in restive Thai south: police

Suspected Islamic militants have shot dead three Muslims in separate attacks in Thailand's troubled south this weekend, local police said Sunday.

A Thai soldier stands guard in Thailand's restive southern province of Yala. Suspected Islamic militants have shot dead three Muslims in separate attacks in Thailand's troubled south this weekend,

A Muslim army sergeant, 33, and his wife were shot on Saturday evening by three gunmen hidden at the roadside as they travelled home by motorcycle in Narathiwat province.

The man died instantly while his wife died later in hospital, police said.

On Sunday, a Muslim defence volunteer was killed and a local district chief injured when a bomb was detonated near a mosque in Yala province.

Defence volunteers are trained and armed by the state to protect civilians against insurgents.

Some 3,900 people have died in a five-year insurgency in the southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and parts of Songkhla, led by shadowy militants who have killed Buddhists and Muslims alike.

The region was an autonomous Malay Muslim sultanate until it was annexed by predominantly Buddhist Thailand in 1902, sparking decades of tension.