Narathiwat, Thailand: A Thai marine has been abducted and killed in Thailand’s deep south in a revenge attack by militants who carried out a botched raid on a military base, police said Wednesday.

Maela Tolu, a 24-year-old Muslim private at the base, was snatched from his home by eight gunmen on Monday evening, his wife told police in Narathiwat, one of several insurgency-plagued provinces near the Malaysian border.

His blindfolded body was found with two gunshot wounds and his hands bound on a village road in another district late Tuesday, as killing in the region continues despite recent peace talks between Thailand and one of the rebel groups.

Police said the white wire cable used to tie the victim’s hands was the same as that found on the bodies of militants killed in an unusually brazen attack in February that saw scores of heavily-armed gunmen storm the Narathiwat base.

Marines, who had been tipped off in advance, repulsed that assault and killed 16 rebel fighters.

“Based on the wire we found, we’re convinced that the same group of militants who raided the base are responsible for it (the killing),” according to Colonel Krisada Kaewjandee, Narathiwat’s deputy provincial police commander.

Southern army spokesman Colonel Pramote Promin also said the rare kidnapping could have been linked to the failed base raid.

More than 5,500 people have been killed in nine years of bloodshed in Thailand’s Muslim-majority south, with shadowy insurgent groups blamed for near-daily bombings and shootings.

Security personnel and those connected with the government are regularly targeted, as well as Muslims perceived to be collaborating with the authorities.

Thailand held its first formal peace talks with southern insurgents last week, with a one-day meeting with representatives of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur.

But while talks were said to be cordial - and a further round was set for April 29 - attacks have continued in the region.

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the latest gruesome killing would not undermine the peace dialogue.

“It’s in confidence-building process, it will take time so we will still see violence in the area,” she told reporters.

Three other civilians were shot and killed in separate attacks on Tuesday. A 31-year-old Buddhist man and a 48-year-old Muslim man were gunned down in different areas of Narathiwat, while a 54-year-old Muslim man was shot in neighbouring Pattani in an attack that also injured his wife.

Roadside bomb attacks on two military patrols in Pattani also left four soldiers injured on Tuesday.