A string of shootings underlined almost daily violence in the Muslim-majority region, where more than 2,800 people have been killed since unrest broke out in January 2004.

A 34-year-old Muslim died in a drive-by shooting on Saturday in Yala, one of three insurgency-torn provinces bordering Malaysia.

In nearby Narathiwat, militants opened fire early Saturday on two teenage boys, killing a the 16-year-old and wounding his 15-year-old friend, police said. The dead boy also had slash wounds on his head after being attacked with a knife, the police added.

Another Muslim, aged 50, was also shot dead outside his house in Yala late Friday. On the same night in neighbouring Pattani a 56-year-old villager was gunned down in a drive-by shooting, officers said, while a man aged 48 was killed as he drove his motorcycle to a mosque.

The restive region was an ethnic Malay sultanate until Buddhist Thailand annexed it a century ago, provoking decades of tension. -- AFP