 A soldier, policeman and a terrorist suspected insurgent were killed in a gun battle in Thailand's restive Muslim south, security forces said on Saturday. A Reuters reporter at the scene said at least two terrorists rebels were holed up inside a house at 11 a.m. local time surrounded by a combined force of 200 police and soldiers.
The standoff came after unknown gunmen attacked a joint military and police patrol unit early Saturday in a town in Yala, one of three provinces near the Malaysian border where nearly 3,500 people have died in five years of unrest.
After the policeman, soldier and terrorist suspected militant were killed in the gunfight, the other gunmen retreated to a nearby house and were resisting calls by security forces to surrender, the reporter said.
A recent escalation in hostilities in the deep south has killed 41 people and wounded 60 this month alone. |