Six dead as Thai military battles rebels in restive south

Pallbearers carry the coffin of a Thai soldier killed in an ambush by suspected separatists, during a funeral ceremony at Narathiwat airport in southern Thailand's restive Narathiwat province on October 3, 2021. - AFP

NARATHIWAT (Thailand), Oct 4 (AFP): Six days of gun battles between soldiers and militants in Thailand's restive south have left six people dead, the military said Monday, as troops hunt insurgents hiding in a swampy forest.

Thailand's three southernmost provinces have been in the grip of a 17-year conflict that has killed more than 7,000 people, the majority civilians, as militants in the Muslim-majority region fight for more autonomy from the Thai state.