Four more dead in the South Thailand jihad: Gunmen kill 4 in southern Thailand.

BANGKOK, Thailand - Unidentified gunmen in insurgency-wracked southern Thailand killed four local government employees Wednesday in the same district where a prominent political party leader was campaigning, police said.

The victims were riding in a car in Pattani’s Muang district, police Col. Somjit Nasomyon said.

Somjit said it was unclear whether the attack was related to an Islamic insurgency in Thailand’s southernmost provinces that has led to more than 2,600 deaths since flaring up in early 2004.

After the shooting, however, a bomb in the car exploded as police and reporters arrived, wounding two policemen. It is a common tactic of the insurgents to leave a bomb at the scene of an attack to target security forces as they arrive to investigate.