NARATHIWAT, Jan 14: Suspected Muslim insurgents killed eight soldiers and beheaded one of them in a bombing and shooting attack on Monday in restive southern Thailand, army and police officials said.

The soldiers were on a routine morning patrol in the Chanae district of Narathiwat province when a bomb hidden on the road exploded as their military vehicle passed, said the spokesman, Col Akara Thiprote.

After the blast, suspected insurgents attacked the vehicle with a barrage of gunfire, leaving no survivors, he said.

“One of the soldiers was beheaded. His head was found 50 meters away from the scene of the attack,” said police Lt-Col Chakkrote Nongmanee, who inspected the blast site.

An initial investigation indicates that about 20 suspected insurgents were hiding behind brush along the roadside, Chakkrote said.

An earlier report said the attackers left behind eight M-16 assault rifles, a submachine gun and a pistol, but Akara later said the weapons were taken from the vehicle and the bodies of the victims.

About 300 soldiers were dispatched to track the suspected insurgents, who fled into the jungle after the incident.—AP