Suspected insurgents shot a village head in a mosque during Friday prayers in Thai southernmost province of Pattani, while eight rangers and police officers were wounded in two bomb blasts in Yala.

Four gunmen shot 55-year-old village head Latae Yuso in Kapor district as he joined Friday prayers at the mosque. He was hit by several bullets in his torso and seriously wounded. He was sent to hospital and his condition is still unknown.

Meanwhile, in Yala, two bombs exploded, wounding eight officers in Yaha district. The first bomb was detonated on the Saipatae- Yaha Road, wounding two paramilitary security men, on patrol in the area. The second bomb exploded when police and border patrol police inspected the bombing site.

Six border patrol policemen were wounded and rushed to hospital, the Thai News Agency said.

After the blasts, tripod spikes were strewn on a roads by insurgents to prevent police pursuit.

Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat are the three southern border provinces plagued with violence related to an ongoing insurgency which has claimed more than 1,900 lives since it resumed in early 2004.

Source: Xinhua