'Terrorists' kill three Indonesian policemen in shoot-out

JAKARTA (AFP) - Suspected militants shot dead three policemen and injured three more on Thursday, police said, in the latest attack to hit a central Indonesian district known for being a hotbed of terrorism.

The attackers opened fire at paramilitary police patrolling the district of Poso just east of Borneo, the national police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said, where police believe a terrorist group runs a militant camp.

Police have foiled several small bomb plots in the area in recent months and clashed with militants, shooting dead a suspected terrorist last month after explosives were hurled in their direction.

"Three paramilitary police were killed in the shootout from head and chest gun wounds. Three were injured, two seriously," Amar told reporters on Thursday.