Pattani, Thailand - Suspected separatists killed three people and injured five others in attacks Wednesday, coming on the heels of the fourth anniversary of the Thai military's attack on a sacred mosque in Pattani, once an independent Islamic sultanate.

In the first incident, unknown assailants attacked a ten-wheel truck in Saiburi district, Pattani, killing its driver and injuring a second man, at 9:10 am.

At 1:40 pm a bomb was detonated under an army truck in Yarang district, Pattani, about 750 kilometres south of Bangkok, killing two soldiers and injuring two others. Two civilians were also injured in the road blast.

"We think the attacks were designed to create turmoil after the anniversary of the attack on Krue Se Mosque," said Saiburi Police Lieutenant Colonel Sakaliya Usoe.

On April 28, 2004, Thai soldiers attacked the centuries-old Krue Se Mosque in Pattani, where Muslim militants had taken shelter after launching an attack on government officials.

Altogether 32 suspected militants died in the Krue Se assault, which also left the sacred site badly damaged.

The Khue Se incident is often cited as an example of how Thailand has mishandled the separatist insurgency in the deep South, comprising Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces.

Another notorious incident occurred in October, 2004, when Thai authorities cracked down on a demonstration in Tak Bai, Narathiwat, and rounded up hundreds of suspects who were trucked to a nearby army base for detention and interrogation.

Some 85 of the suspects, packed one on top of another like lumber, suffocated en route to the army base, sparking international outrage and fueling the region's resentment against Bangkok rule.

More than 3,000 people have fallen victim to clashes, explosions, beheadings and assassinations in the three-province region since early 2004.

The three provinces bordering Malaysia comprised the independent Islamic sultanate of Pattani more than 200 years ago before being conquered by the first Chakri Dynasty king in Bangkok.

Despite being part of Thailand for two centuries, the region has maintained its own culture and language, which is similar to neighbouring Malaysia's. About 80 per cent of the three provinces' 2 million people are Muslims, making the region an anomaly in predominantly Buddhist Thailand.

A separatist struggle has simmered in the area for decades but took a turn for the worse in January 2004 when Muslim militants attacked an army depot and stole 300 weapons, prompting a crackdown that further inflamed the local population against the government. (dpa)