Suspected militants detonated a device buried under the road as 10 officers drove past on their way to a function with villagers in Narathiwat, one of three provinces to have suffered more than seven years of insurgency.

The 38-year-old driver and a 33-year-old woman were killed instantly in the

blast, police said. Another female officer sustained serious injuries and was

taken to hospital.

Thailand's southern provinces have been plagued by almost daily violence since shadowy insurgents launched an uprising in Thailand's southernmost region

in early 2004.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011