Marine abducted and shot dead in Thai south: army

NARATHIWAT: A Thai marine has been abducted and executed in Thailand's deep south in a possible revenge attack for losses sustained by militants in a botched raid on a military base, an army spokesman said Wednesday.

Maela Tolu, a 24-year-old Muslim private at the base, was snatched from his home by eight gunmen on Monday evening, his wife told local police in Narathiwat, one of several insurgency-plagued provinces near the Malaysian border.

His body was found on a village road in another district late Tuesday, as killing in the region continues despite recent peace talks between Thailand and one of the rebel groups.

"He was blindfold, his hands were tied behind his back and he had been shot twice," southern army spokesman Colonel Pramote Promin told by telephone.

He said the rare kidnapping could have been linked to an unusually brazen attack in February that saw scores of heavily-armed gunmen storm the Narathiwat base. Marines, who had been tipped off in advance, repelled the assault, leaving 16 militants dead.