PATTANI, Thailand – Three suspected Muslim insurgents were shot dead by Thai troops in the restive southern province of Pattani Tuesday (February 21st) after launching an attack on a security checkpoint, police said.

The men were among six people who opened fire from a truck on an outpost in Panare district in Pattani, said Police Colonel Manit Yimsai. A ranger and a villager were seriously wounded in the fighting.

Also in Pattani on Monday, a Muslim man was killed in a drive-by shooting.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, a 53-year-old Muslim man was shot dead at a rubber plantation in neighbouring Narathiwat province after declining invitations by militants to join them, police said.

According to Deep South Watch, which closely monitors the conflict, violence in the three southernmost border provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat has claimed over 5,000 lives since attacks escalated in 2004.