[lovespellszz]

A kamnan and his three deputies were killed in a drive-by shooting in Pattani’s Saiburi district on Thursday afternoon, reports said.

The victims were identified as Sangworn Suwanratch, 56, kamnan of tambon Thung Kla of Saiburi, Preecha Thong-iad, Supaporn Charoensuk and Pornthip Pho-ngern, all assistant sub-district chiefs of tambon Thung Kla.

They were travelling in a sedan, returning from a meeting at Saiburi district office on No 42 road at Ban Bangomulong in tambon Trohbon of Saiburi, when gunmen on a pickup truck opened fire on them with AK-47 and M16 assault rifles.

The four local officials were each hit several times and died inside the car.

The attackers also stole from the car 300,000 baht in cash, which was for the salaries of village defence volunteers of tambon Thung Kla, one .38 pistol and one shotgun, then fled.

Police blamed separatist militants.

More than 5,000 people have been killed and over 8,400 hurt in the three southern border provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala and four districts of Songkhla since violence erupted in January 2004, according to Deep South Watch -- an agency that monitors the conflict in the southernmost provinces.

In March, a total of 56 people were killed and 547 wounded in insurgency-related violence in the region.