Police in southern Thailand say two of their officers were abducted and later found dead in a ditch, with the pickup truck of one of the officers stolen and set on fire.

They say they are investigating whether the Tuesday night killings in Narathiwat province involved a personal dispute or the region's Muslim separatist insurgency, which has claimed about 7,000 lives since 2004.

Police said Wednesday that four heavily armed attackers clad in black and camouflage outfits kidnapped the two officers from a house where they were socializing Tuesday evening. They also stole a rifle and two pistols belonging to the officers before escaping in the pickup truck.

Police later discovered the bodies of the police officers in a ditch with gunshot wounds.