Police lead away one of five suspects arrested during a raid on a house in a village in Yala province. The five were wanted in connection with several violent incidents in the deep South.

Officers raided a house in the province's Raman district after a tip-off from informants that suspects in several murder cases had gathered there.

The five were Rohsule Lejeh, 24, Samran Asaebah, 23, Makuree Dengsamae, 32, Mamaseng Tarika, 23 and Apandi Esawmusaw, 24.

Officers confiscated a shotgun, an AK-47, a revolver, a long-blade knife and some ammunition.

Police said Apandi was involved in the murder of police officer Samart Intamano in Narathiwat's Rusoh district in February.

The group had gathered in the area to prepare to create trouble in the region in order to maintain the momentum of violence that has rocked the three southernmost provinces since the beginning of 2004, police said.

Meanwhile, in neighbouring Pattani province, a retired official was shot dead while leaving his house in Muang district on a motorbike.

Surasak Khansukan, 64, a former official at the Interior Ministry, was shot in the head and body with a 38-calibre revolver and died instantly.

More than 1,700 people have been killed in almost daily attacks in the deep South over the past 32 months.

The Nation

Yala