Two insurgents were killed in Thailand's violence-plagued south after a bomb they were transporting prematurely exploded, the military said on Thursday.

Their deaths came during a night of violence across 11 districts in three of Thailand's southern-most provinces near the border with Malaysia. More than a dozen grenade and bomb attacks also wounded eight civilians and officials.

No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, which targeted police stations and checkpoints.

"This is the work of people who want to cause chaos. It looks like their intention wasn't to kill but rather to cause disorder," Colonel Yutthanam Petchmuang told Reuters news agency.

Military spokesman Pramote Prom-in identified the dead as "insurgent operation leaders".

Thailand is mostly Buddhist but parts of the south are majority Muslim. The region has been plagued by a long-running separatist insurgency as ethnic Malay rebels battle Thai troops for more autonomy from the Buddhist-majority state.

Bombings and drive-by shootings are common in Thailand’s south, where more than 6,800 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since 2004.

Agencies