3 shot dead in southern Thailand: police

Separatist militants have killed two soldiers and a teenager in Thailand's restive south, police said. A 16-year-old boy was shot dead overnight outside a convenience store in Yala.

Separatist militants have killed two soldiers and a teenager in Thailand's restive south, police said.

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A 16-year-old boy was shot dead overnight outside a convenience store in Yala, capital of the province of the same name.

In nearby Pattani province, two 22-year-old soldiers escorting a teacher were killed in a drive-by shooting on Tuesday by suspected militants riding on a pick-up truck.

The military often provides security to teachers, who are frequent targets of attacks, because militants see the education system as an effort by Bangkok to impose Buddhist Thai culture on a region that is largely Muslim and ethnic Malay.

Two other soldiers were injured and are in serious condition.

More than 3,500 people have been killed since separatist violence erupted almost five years ago in Thailand's Muslim-majority south.

Tensions have simmered since Thailand annexed the mainly Malay sultanate in 1902.