Three killed in southern Thailand

Suspected Islamic militants have beheaded a Buddhist man and shot dead two others in southern Thailand.

A man and wife were found dead at the entrance of a rubber plantation in Yala province - the man had been shot and then decapitated, police said.

A handwritten note was found saying "We will kill all Thai Buddhists." Another man was shot dead in a separate attack.

Almost 2,000 have died in three years of violence in three southern provinces with majority Muslim populations.

Shootings and other attacks occur almost daily in the southern provinces.

Buddhist monks and teachers are frequently targeted, as well as police, soldiers and others viewed as collaborators with the government.

In the latest killings, the husband and wife appeared to have been shot dead before the man was beheaded.

A police officer told the Reuters news agency that the note left by the body was signed by a group that called itself the Pattani Fighters, a reference to one of the region's troubled provinces.

The third Buddhist was killed in a separate attack by a gunman on a motorcycle.