A bomb explosion in Thailand's southernmost province of Yala on Wednesday morning killed two soldiers, local media reported.

The two sergeants, identified as Suriya Salungkrue and Somyos Plai-ngam, were seriously injured by the bomb, and later pronounced dead in Yala hospital, Bangkok Post reported.

Witnesses said that a homemade bomb hidden in a motorcycle parked by the roadside was detonated when an eight-man military team were riding motorcycles along the road.

Police blamed the deaths on separatist militants.

Separatist violence in Thailand's Deep South dated back to January 2004 and incidents of violence has occurred frequently in the three Muslim, ethnic-Malay dominated southern border provinces -- Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and four districts of Songkhla.

The latest figures from the Thai military show that insurgent violence in the Deep South has left at least 5,926 people dead and 10,593 others injured during the past decade. Endi