The troops were dispatched to Tambon Liko where insurgents had set fire to a local public school in Ban Dohae village, but along the way they came under heavy attack and two seperate gunfights broke out.

The same dispatch also encountered roadside bombings that overturned two military trucks.

Officials said at least 50 militants were involved in the predawn attacks, the latest round of set backs for the authorities who are often criticised for being on the receiving end of any gun battles.

Meanwhile, a resident of Yala's Muang district, Thongchai Saelim, was hacked to death in a rice paddy near a rubber plantation in Ban Yupo village.

Separately, the State Railways of Thailand announced yesterday that the YalaSungai Kolok route had been reopened. The route shut down after one of its trains was fired at on April 14.

   In Pattani's Muang district, a member of a local ranger unit, Panas Thongyai, 25, shot dead two men who tried to break into his house.

Police said Panas was in his home in Tambon Panare when two men broke in through the backdoor. They said he grabbed his governmentissued AK47 and fired at the two insurgents. Both were killed.

Police said Panas's father was shot dead by insurgents some time ago and they had broken into his house twice in the past to steal propane gas tanks.

In Narathiwat's Joh I Rong district, villagers in Tambon Bukit saw a suspicious piece of electrical wire sticking out of the ground and immediately informed the authorities.

A bomb squad unearthed a 15kilogramme bomb that was packed inside a fire extinguisher canister.

The Nation