YALA: Suspected Islamist militants have shot and killed three people including a teacher in separate attacks across Thailand`s restive southern provinces, police said Friday.

The 30-year-old teacher, who was also a corporal with the border patrol police, was attacked as he was leaving school in the Si Sa Khon district of Narathiwat province on Thursday afternoon.

Later that day a 44-year-old Buddhist state railway employee was attacked by two gunmen while shopping in a market in the town of Yala, according to authorities.

In another attack a 52-year-old Muslim village chief was shot in an ambush in the Nongchik district of Pattani province and died at a local hospital on Thursday evening.

Thailand last month extended emergency rule in three troubled Muslim-majority southern provinces until October as it struggles to quell unrest that has left more than 4,100 people dead in six years.

The shadowy militants, whose exact goals are unclear, have targeted both Buddhists and Muslims, including many civilians.

The Thai army says more than half of its troops in the region are deployed to protect educational institutions and teachers, which are frequently targeted by the insurgents.

Militants view the school system as an effort by Bangkok to impose Buddhist culture on the south.

BDST: 12:00 HRS, August 27, 2010