Two army soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in south Thailand's Pattani province on Tuesday, the Bangkok Post reported.

An eight-member team dispatched by a local army unit went on a trip Tuesday morning to distribute New Year gifts to villagers. An improvised explosive device, buried under the road surface, exploded right under the truck when the convoy was just about one kilometer from the unit's base.

Two soldiers on the truck were badly injured and died after being sent to a nearby hospital.

Separatist militants were blamed for the attack. They have reportedly instigated tens of thousand of violent incidents in the southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwa since January 2004. Over 4,500 people have been killed and more than 7, 200 injured.