BANGKOK: Suspected separatist insurgents stormed a security checkpoint in Thailand's Muslim-majority south and killed at least 15 people, including a police officer and many village defence volunteers, security officials said on Wednesday.

It was the worst single attack in years in a region where a separatist insurgency has killed thousands.

The attackers, in the province of Yala, also used explosives and scattered nails on roads to delay pursuers late on Tuesday night.

"This is likely the work of the insurgents," Colonel Pramote Prom-in, a regional security spokesman, told Reuters.

"This is one of the biggest attack in recent times."

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, however, as is common with such attacks.

Some rebel groups in the south have said they are fighting to establish an independent state.

Authorities arrested several suspects from the region in August over a series of small bombs detonated in Bangkok, the capital, although they have not directly blamed any insurgent group.

The main insurgency group, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), denied responsibility for the Bangkok bombings, which wounded four people.

In August, the group told Reuters it had held a secret preliminary meeting https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-south-exclusive/exclusive-muslim-insurgent-group-says-it-met-with-thai-government-idUSKCN1V7039 with the government, but any step towards a peace process appeared to wither after the deputy prime minister rejected a key demand for the release of prisoners.