Thai official beheaded

Surin Somchit, an employee of the community water authority, was shot and wounded by four shots near his office in Narathiwat province's Rangae district, police Capt. Songphol Juimanee said.

The attackers, whose number was not yet known, then cut off their victim's head with a machete and dumped it by the roadside, he said.

Praying Muslims shot in Thailand

The attackers were suspected of being Islamic insurgents, said Songphol.

The insurgents, seeking to separate the Muslim-dominated area from the rest of the country, at the beginning of last year launched a campaign of violence that has met with a sharp response from the authorities and claimed more than 880 lives in Thailand's three southernmost provinces.

Thai Buddhist beheaded

The beheading was the sixth carried out this month and the second to take place in daylight hours.

The beheading victims, including the one Wednesday, have been Buddhists, and Thai officials believe the attacks are an attempt to terrorizes Buddhists in the south into leaving the area.