PATTANI, Thailand – Gunmen shot and killed a village headman and seriously wounded a villager in separate incidents in Pattani province Tuesday (June 5th), The Bangkok Post reported.

Ya Waeni, 58, the headman of Village No 6 in tambon Paka Harang, was driving around 1.05pm when he was attacked by gunmen armed with AK47 and M16 rifles. Shot many times, he died on the spot, according to Police Colonel Somporn Meesuk, the Muang district police chief.

Separately, Saman Deekuleh, 32, was sitting in his house in tambon Ko Chan of Mayo district when a gunman walked in, fired several shots at him with a handgun and fled.

The victim, shot three times in the back, was transferred to Pattani hospital in critical condition, Pol Col Kongath Suwankham, chief of Mayo police station, said, according to the Post.

More than 5,000 people have been killed and nearly 8,000 injured since 2004 in a shadowy insurgency waged in Thailand's Muslim-dominated southernmost provinces.