Two insurgents die in Yala shootout with security forces

YALA - Two separatists were killed in a gun fight with security forces after an hours-long siege at a village in Thao To district on Monday morning, security sources said. 

The two men were believed to be members of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional, an islamic  southern separatist movement.

They were named in arrest warrants on charges of committing armed violence in the southern province, the sources said. Their names were not released. Authorities seized one M-16 rifle and a number of field backpacks after the shootout. 

The Internal Security Operations Command's 4th Region Forward Command declared the  mountainside village of Ban Khok Chang in Thao To district off limits on Monday morning after the wanted men refused to surrender.

After a long stand-off, the men started started shooting when a combined security force subsequently moved in to arrest them, and were killed by return fire, according to the sources.