BANGKOK, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Nine policemen were injured by gunmen at a road checkpoint in southernmost Thailand on Monday, police said.

The unknown gunmen in a pickup truck opened fire in a wee hour onto the policemen at the checkpoint near a roadside market in Krong Pinang district of Yala province, about 1,100 km south of the Thai capital.

The policemen, two of whom were seriously wounded, were rushed to hospital while their assailants have remained at large.

The latest attack on government personnel by insurgent gunmen followed last Thursday's attack at a police station in a neighboring Narathiwat province which killed one policeman and injured a few others.