April 04, 2008	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 26, 1429

YALA (Thailand), April 3: Five people have been killed in Thailand’s insurgency-hit Muslim south, including three suspected rebels shot dead during clashes with security forces, police said Thursday.

Hundreds of police and soldiers sealed off a village in Yala province on Thursday morning after receiving a tip that militants might be hiding there.

Security forces killed two suspected separatists during their search of the village, police at the scene said.

Also in Yala on Wednesday, militants ambushed two pro-government militia members, killing a 38-year-old man and seriously injuring a second man. A rebel was also killed in the clash, police said. In a separate incident, a Muslim village chief was killed in a drive-by shooting in Songkhla province on Thursday.—AFP