Two local residents were killed and another was injured by suspected insurgents while they were tapping rubber trees in a village in Thai southern province of Yala on Monday morning, police said.

Police said the three were tapping rubber trees in Sagai Village in Tambon Ban Reu of Yala's Thanto district when a group of insurgents opened fire at them at about 9:30 a.m. (0230 GMT).

Luem Waewphet, 70, and Sumalee Thampradit, 26, died at the scene, local news group The Nation said. Sutham Thampradit, 60, was severely injured and rushed to the district hospital.

Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani are the three southern provinces plagued by violence related to an ongoing insurgency which has claimed more than 2,100 lives since it resumed in early 2004.

Source: Xinhua