Six people shot dead in troubled southern province

Suspected insurgents in the restive south of the country have shot dead six people. The attack was in the Bacho district of Narathiwat province. Ten police officers were injured when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb.

Reuters

The police  were responding to reports of a number of  villagers killed in Bacho district when their vehicle was  blown up.

Later the six villagers, who had been out hunting, were found shot dead.

A six-year separatist insurgency in Thailand's Muslim-majority southern provinces which borders Malaysia has left more than 4,000 people dead and thousands more wounded since the violence escalated in January 2004.

Buddhist and Muslim civilians have been killed and wounded, as have members of the security forces.

Armed Muslim groups want independence from the Buddhist-majority north and the military response has been described as "harsh and counterproductive".