The decapitated body of Preecha Nuanthong, 30, and his nephew Dusit, 14, were found on a road in Pattani's Nong Chik district. Preecha's severed head was eventually discovered about five kilometres from the scene.

Police also found a bomb hidden near the head but were able to defuse it.

Police said the two were probably killed on Sunday night. The attackers spray-painted a message on the road near the bodies that read, "This is revenge for Hutae Bongor", the name of a nearby town where a mosque bombing on Saturday night killed a Muslim man and injured three others.

The beheading was the latest tit-for-tat between security forces and the insurgents, who often accuse rogue government units of attacks on mosques and Islamic schools in the region.

The government, on the other hand, has generally blamed militants for attacks on both Buddhists and Muslims, saying many attacks on the latter were part of efforts to discredit the government.

In a separate incident yesterday, a bomb exploded at a roadside restaurant in the heart of Narathiwat's Sungai Kolok district, injuring one worker.

The bomb was hidden in a bag that belonged to a customer, who left the restaurant before it was detonated, police said. They believed the bomb was set off by a mobile phone. The restaurant belonged to Arun Thamphanon.

In Narathiwat's Rangae district, gunmen riddled Koyrin Daloh, 38, a member of the Ba-ngo Sto's Tambon Administrative Organisation (TAO), with M16 bullet while he was driving his pickup truck. Police said they did not rule out a political dispute as one of the motives behind the attempt on his life.

Despite a recent spate of attacks in the far South, authorities have played down suggestions that sectarian violence is breaking out. Violence in the Malay-speaking region has claimed more than 2,000 lives since January 2004.

The Nation

Pattani