The brutal killings come two days after the ambush and slaying of seven Special Forces personnel in the same district.

A group of suspected militants riding in a pickup attacked the police post at Tanyongmat at lunchtime. A witness said the militants opened fire at the box at the Sipo intersection with automatic rifles, and then set it alight.

The victims are Lance-Corporals Witthaya Khunthong and Sataport Noonchaeng.

Officials later found a pickup - suspected of having been used by militants - parked in Ban Kuchinglupa in the same district. Initial examination indicated that the truck had fake licence plates.

An official said the militants involved in yesterday's attack might be the same group that shot the Special Forces troops two days earlier, and that they might live in Ban Kuchinglupa. However, no arrests have yet been made.

Half an hour before the attack on the soldiers, a village headman was shot dead in Rangae while driving to Narathiwat city. Police found Ban Bango Sato headman Jehmu Sama-ae dead in his vehicle. Blood on the road suggested another victim at the scene, they said.

Rangae is a hot spot in the region. Wednesday's attack on seven Army rangers, who were shot execution style after a roadside bomb disabled their vehicle, prompted demands that the military-backed government employ tougher tactics against militants.

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said the government would use peaceful means and reconciliation. "Good government must have a policy to reconcile the people of the nation," he said, adding there would be no political interference in security operations in the region.

New Internal Security Operations Command adviser Pallop Pinmanee said authorities needed support in the predominantly Muslim region to fight the militants.

"The tactic is to increase the number of villages supporting the government," he said.