Defence volunteers shot dead in Pattani

Two defence volunteers were shot dead by suspected insurgents in Pattani's Sai Buri district yesterday morning, police said.

Sai Buri superintendent Pol Colonel Asis Umayee said Krissana Thepsao, 36, and Wirat InthongEiad, 42, were returning home in a pickup truck after having completed their shift at 10am, when four or five suspected insurgents, also in a pickup truck, fired at them with M16 assault rifles and a handgun. The two men died instantly from gunshot wounds to their head and torso, and the attackers made off with their pistols and three birds in a cage.