Roadside bomb kills 5 soldiers
in south Thailand

Five soldiers have been killed and one wounded by a roadside bomb in Thailand's insurgency-plagued south.

Police Col. Jeera Setdao-ngerntrakul said Friday that Muslim insurgents were suspected of detonating the bomb in Saiburi district in Pattani province as a pickup truck carrying the six soldiers passed by.

He said the soldiers were on their way to assist security forces providing safety for Buddhists traveling to local temples on a religious holiday.

The improvised bomb was hidden under the road surface and wired to a trigger hidden in a bush.

More than 5,000 people have been killed in Buddhist-dominated Thailand's three southernmost, Muslim-majority provinces since an Islamic insurgency erupted in 2004.

Attacks occur almost daily despite recent government efforts to hold peace talks with the militants.