The military coup-installed government of Thailand has announced an ambitious program of outreach and aid to the Muslim-dominated south, including amnesty for “insurgents,” to win their hearts and minds.

Initial results are less than encouraging: Seven troops killed in Thai south.

NARATHIWAT, Thailand (AFP) - Seven soldiers were killed Wednesday in a bomb attack by separatist insurgents in Thailand’s restive south, military and police said.

The soldiers were returning from a training session in an army pick-up truck when insurgents remotely detonated a 20-kilogramme (45-pound) roadside bomb near a school in Narathiwat province.

The military report into the incident said that insurgents opened fire after the bomb exploded to ensure all the troops were dead, before snatching the soldiers’ M16 rifles.

Police in the area said the militants had scattered spikes on the road to prevent rescue workers from reaching the scene of the blast, which left a two-metre (six-foot) wide crater.

The soldiers were part of a military programme that was supposed to work to improve relations with residents of the region, police added.