Five military rangers shot dead in ambush

       Suspected insurgents have shot dead five military rangers and made off with three HK assault rifles in an ambush in Yala's Muang district.
       The shooting took place last night at 7.30 when the rangers were travelling in a pickup truck from the Ban Taseh mosque after attending evening prayers to break the Ramadan fast.
       The officers from the Pattana Santi 47-3 military ranger unit spotted a sus-picious object on a roadside as they arrived at Ban Taseh health station, close to the mosque. The rangers stopped to inspect it.
       As they approached, a group of men hiding behind bushes sprayed the rangers with bullets, killing the five. They took three assault rifles but left two rifles at the scene.
       The insurgents also placed metal spikes on the road to hamper the efforts of officers following them.
       The slain military rangers are Muhamad Moro, Jittakorn Sirisawadi,Pradit Muenyotha, Besamad Langtoh and Prajak Kamhaeng.
       Earlier, a motorcyclist in Yala's Than To district was injured when he was shot by a pillion rider of another motorcycle in his village. Arong Khiewmee,30, was shot once in his right hip while riding his motorcycle to a market in tambon Mae Wad about 10.30am. Two men sped towards him on another motorcycle and the pillion rider fired at him. He was taken to hospital.