Police say a soldier has been killed by an explosive device near an army checkpoint in southern Thailand, ABC news reported Wednesday.

They said the blast on Wednesday left three other soldiers injured. 

Lt. Col. Chinnawat Vejthayakorn, the deputy police chief of Yala province, said six soldiers were patrolling a riverfront on motorcycles when an improvised explosive device was remotely detonated as they rode passed an army checkpoint.

Over 6,500 people have been killed in the separatist insurgency, which began in 2004.

Source: MENA