Police officer badly hurt in ambush

Police Corporal Charin Saikeow and a group of fellow officers were ambushed by gunmen on a  back road in Tambon Kota Baru, police said.

The two sides traded gunshots for about five minutes before the culprits retreated.

Charin and the officers were returning to their station after attending a road accident.

Ambushes launched by Malay separatists have become common in the deep South where ongoing violence has claimed 3,400 lives since January 2004.