(Updates toll)

BANGKOK, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Five people were killed by an improvised bomb that exploded in a market in southern Thailand on Friday, police said.

They said suspected Muslim rebels robbed and beat up a store owner in Chana district of Narathiwat province. When police arrived to investigate, the bomb was detonated.

Police said five people were killed and more than 10 injured by the bomb, which was fashioned out of a gas canister.

The rubber-producing provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, abutting predominantly Muslim Malaysia to the south, were an independent Muslim sultanate until their annexation by Buddhist Thailand a century ago.

No group has claimed responsibility for any of the almost daily bombings, shooting and arson attacks which have ravaged the local economy since January 2004 and driven out many in the 20 percent Buddhist minority. (Writing by David Fox; Editing by Paul Tait)

AlertNet news is provided by