By Surapan Boonthanom BANNANG SATA, Thailand, June 27 (Reuters) - A soldier, policeman and a suspected insurgent were killed in a gun battle in Thailand's restive Muslim south, security forces said on Saturday. A Reuters reporter at the scene said at least two rebels were holed up inside a house at 11 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) surrounded by a combined force of 200 police and soldiers. The standoff came after unknown gunmen attacked a joint military and police patrol unit early Saturday in a town in Yala, one of three provinces near the Malaysian border where nearly 3,500 people have died in five years of unrest. After the policeman, soldier and suspected militant were killed in the gunfight, the other gunmen retreated to a nearby house and were resisting calls by security forces to surrender, the reporter said. The predominantly ethnic Malay Muslim region was an independent sultanate known as Patani before it was annexed by Buddhist Thailand in 1909 as part of a treaty with Britain. The 30,000 troops deployed to the region five years ago have failed to quell the mysterious violence, for which no credible group has claimed responsibility. A recent escalation in hostilities in the deep south has killed 41 people wounded 60 this month alone. (Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Bill Tarrant)
Thailand's Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai holds a bag of methamphetamine pills during the 37th Destruction of Confiscated Narcotics in Ayutthaya province, nearly 80 km (50 miles) north of Bangkok, June 26, ...
