"They are using brutality as a weapon, brought from the JI," he told reporters. "This is a new type of violence."

But as long as the government did not internationalise the issue, the violence would not develop into "a Middle-Eastern type", he said.

The militants have between 10,000 and 20,000 active personnel, mostly young Muslims recruited in the three southernmost provinces, he said.

Besides adopting similarly brutal tactics, Watanachai did not speculate on whether the militants had other links with JI, which is regarded by the intelligence community as an affiliate of Al Qaeda.

The militants have become more fundamentally Islamist, he said. "They consider themselves as religious warriors or Mujaheedin," he added.

More than 2,000 people have been killed in the deep South since the insurgency flared up at the beginning of 2004.

There was further violence yesterday in Narathiwat province. One soldier was killed and two others were injured after their patrol was ambushed by insurgents in Bacho district. After a 10 minute gun battle, Marine Chief Petty Officer First-Class Bounchuay Inbutr, 32, was killed, while sergeants Supachai Namtasaeng and Nitiwat Sricharas were injured.

Meanwhile, in Rusoh district, arsonists set fire to a school and public health centre as a group of local people staged a protest to force some 200 troops who were hunting for militants to leave their village.

Troops had raided Ban Kado village and arrested three suspects at about 9am yesterday morning. Some 80 people, mostly women and children, blocked the road when the troops were about to retreat. The school buildings and the public health centre were set on fire while officials were trying  to negotiate with the protestors.