Four Thai rangers killed by bomb in rebel-hit south

On alert: Military personnel and police officers searching the area of a roadside bomb blast in the southern province of Pattani, Thailand. — Reuters

Bangkok: Four Thai army rangers were killed when a roadside bomb tore through their truck as they were securing a road for teachers, an army official said, the latest carnage in an insurgency roiling the kingdom’s far south.

The Muslim-majority region that borders Malaysia has seethed with violence for over a decade as ethnic Malay insurgents battle the Buddhist-majority state for more autonomy.