YALA, Thailand – A police officer attending a routine evening prayer service was shot dead by a suspected militant inside a mosque in Yala's Raman district Monday (June 17th), The Bangkok Post reported.

Witnesses say Sergeant Major Abdulkarim Patalu, 50, was bowing in prayer at a mosque in Ban Mai Kan village when he was fired on by an insurgent posing as a fellow Muslim worshipper.

The assailant shot him in the head three times with a handgun and fled, The Post said.