Shootout in Thailand's Muslim South
Created: 2012-02-22 04:33 EST
Category: World > Asia Pacific
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Police say three suspected insurgents were killed in a gunfight after a failed ambush on a group of paramilitaries on Tuesday in Thailand's restive Muslim south.
A defense volunteer was also wounded in the gunfight, which lasted 20 minutes.
It took place in Pattani, one of three provinces facing constant violent attacks since 2004.
More than 5,000 people have been killed in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces since then.
The attacks are thought to be the work of shadowy insurgents fighting for self-determination for the region's ethnic Malay Muslim majority.
The region, which is more than 680 miles from the capital Bangkok, was part of an independent Malay Muslim sultanate until annexed by Thailand in 1909.
Civilian casualties are high.
But the rebels have increasingly turned to ambushes or roadside bombings targeting troops and paramilitaries recruited by the local army.
Many local Muslims resent the presence of tens of thousands of troops and see them as fanning the conflict.
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