Gunmen kill six in Thai village

Twins Johnny and Luther: Do they still have an army?

An end-of-year party in a Thai village store turned bloody when gunmen attacked people celebrating the event, killing six people.

The attack took place at Wai Noy Nai village, about 3km from the border with Burma, in Ratchaburi province on Saturday night.

It was initially blamed by local police on "God's Army" - an ethnic Karen militia group from Burma led by two teenage twins.

But later reports said the authorities were unclear who was behind the attack, which involved a group of 20 people.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra said authorities were still investigating the incident and promised to take decisive action.

Food raid

Local reports said the attackers ransacked the store of food stuffs, taking packets of instant noodles, sugar, salt and other staples.

One of the gunmen sprayed the store with bullets as he fled. The dead - who were from two families - included two children.

God's Army took 700 people hostage at a hospital a year ago

A third child was wounded with minor injuries.

Local police chief Lieutenant-Gen Chalong Somjai said a dead man was found by the border with a sack of stolen rice, possibly killed in an accident with his own grenade.

"[The dead man] was identified by our Burmese sources as Rambo, a God's Army chief," he told local media.

God's Army are a splinter group from the main ethnic rebel army - the Karen National Union (KNU).

Its 100-odd members, based in Burma by the border with Thailand's Ratchaburi province, reportedly believe the twin leaders - Johnny and Luther Htoo - possess mystical powers.

God's Army 'crushed'

But a report in the online English-language Nation newspaper dismissed claims that God's Army was behind the attack.

The newspaper quoted a Thai army officer as saying Burmese government troops in the area may have been responsible.

The seige at the hospital ended with the God's Army members being killed

The officer said Burmese troops had taken control of the area since crushing God's Army in February.

David Tharakabaw, the KNU's joint secretary-general, also told the newspaper that God's Army no longer existed.

He said the KNU was questioning whether the incident was an attempt to discredit resistance groups fighting Burma's military government.

God's Army came under the spotlight in October 1999 when some members stormed the Burmese embassy in Bangkok.

The group also raided a Ratchaburi hospital in January 2000, holding 700 people hostage.