Rebels kill three in Thai south

THREE people have been killed by separatist rebels in Thailand's far south, including a man who was beheaded by militants, police said yesterday.

A Thai married couple, both in their late 30s, were on their way to tap rubber in Yala province at dawn yesterday when they were ambushed and killed by the insurgents, who then decapitated the husband.

Assailants gunned down Khomphet Janyalert, 39, and his wife Yinjai, 38, at 7 am as they were driving their motorcycle to work at a plantation in Raman district of Yala province, 750km south of Bangkok, police said.

The insurgents decapitated the man and took his head away. They also planted a bomb near the scene of the attack, which exploded and injured one of several policemen who came to investigate the crime.

It was the second beheading reported this month in Yala, part of the restive majority-Muslim region that also includes Narathiwat and Pattani provinces.

On Friday, suspected separatists shot and decapitated two Thai soldiers who were on a motorcycle patrol in Yala's Sata district, leaving their heads 100 metres from their bodies.

In a separate incident in Yala late Saturday, a 38-year-old man was shot dead as he and his wife drove home from a mosque after evening prayers.

More than 3,500 people have been killed since separatist unrest erupted five years ago in the Muslim-majority south. Tensions have simmered since Thailand annexed the mainly Malay sultanate in 1902.

Attacks have become increasingly brutal as the insurgency drags on.Agencies