Soldier, insurgent killed in Thai south shootout

Two people were killed and five others injured in a gunfight between troops and separatist rebels in Thailand's Muslim south, the army said on Monday.

The incident took place in Narathiwat, one of three provinces bordering Malaysia where close to 3,500 people have been killed in violence since 2004.

The shootout erupted when insurgents ambushed an army patrol in the province's Yi-Ngo district, killing a soldier and wounding five others. One of the militants was shot dead but the others fled, an army spokesman said.

A day earlier, a security guard was shot dead by suspected insurgents while riding a motorcycle in neighbouring Pattani province.

Despite flooding the once independent Malay-Muslim region with 30,000 troops, Thailand is no closer to halting the violence, which no group has claimed responsibility for.

BANGKOK, Aug 3 (Reuters)