3 Thai security forces killed in southern militant attacks

Three members of the Thai paramilitary forces were killed and two others wounded Tuesday in attacks by suspected separatists in the south of the country, dpa cited an official as saying. One soldier and a villager were riding in a pickup truck when they were ambushed around 10 am (0300 GMT) by militants firing automatic weapons in Rangae district of Narathiwat province, 825 kilometres south of Bangkok, said Colonel Chatuporn Klumsud, an official of the Internal Security Operations Command. The pickup crashed, leaving the defence volunteer dead and the villager severely wounded, he said. Militants then detonated two mines in an attempt to kill officers who rushed to the scene, but no one was injured, he said. Two more paramilitaries were shot dead later Tuesday from moving vehicles in separate attacks, one in the same district, the other in the neighbouring province of Pattani, Chatuporn said.