Pattani: Two suspected insurgents were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces yesterday while a third man wanted on 16 arrest warrants was detained in Sai Buri district.
Police said they hoped he would provide clues to help them crack a separatist network in the deep South.
The gun battle broke out around 6.30am when the two suspects who were hiding inside a house opened fire on military rangers and police officers who were cordoning off the property in Ban Cho Bo Moo 1, a source said.
Security forces arrived at 3.30am and blocked the entrances to the house following a tip-off that insurgents were believed to be inside.
The property owner later approached authorities and said he only knew the men by their nicknames, Ma and Sae.
At 5.30am, a Muslim cleric was taken to the scene to persuade them to surrender but the suspects replied with volleys of gunfire, police said.
After a 30-minute shootout the two men were proclaimed dead.
Aliya Dahamae, 28, is believed to have been involved in two previous shooting attacks on military rangers and two recent bombings in Sai Buri district, the source said. The other was identified as Kadafi Tamasae.
Meanwhile, 24-year-old Mahamasumri Tamae was apprehended. Fifteen of the warrants are for criminal charges and the last is for violating the emergency decree, police said.
