YALA, Thailand, May 5 (Reuters) - Gunmen shot dead a Thai Muslim man and his two children as they returned home from prayers in the latest attack in the restive southern region, police said.

The 46-year-old man, his son and daughter, aged 7 and 11, were killed on Friday in Yala province, one of three pre-dominantly Malay speaking southern provinces roiled by a three-year separatist insurgency.

A police officer said the identity of the assailants was not known.

The attack came as hundreds of Muslims held a fifth day of protests in Yala demanding the release of 20 people who police said were insurgents.

Hundreds of Buddhist villagers staged counter protests in another part of the province, opposing the release of the detainees, police said.

Separately, two schools in Yala were burnt down on Friday, the latest to be targeted in a wave of attacks on schools and teachers seen as symbols of the government in faraway Bangkok.

More than 2,100 people have been killed in the conflict over the past three years.

AlertNet news is provided by