Top militant leaders live abroad, and they are the brains manipulating the insurgency that has rocked the region, said Pirayos Rahimulla, a former lecturer at Prince of Songkhla University's Pattani Campus.

"The leading group calls itself the Pattani Student Movement, and its leaders live mostly in the Middle East and Scandinavia," he said.

"They are the children of the previous generation of separatists and were born and educated abroad. They have a high standard of education and are highly conscious of their Malay identity. They strongly believe in their right to fight for their motherland," he said.

Army chief Sonthi told reporters on Wednesday he had a list of names of all militants involved in violence in the deep South and that the security forces knew very well the identities of the leaders.

But Pirayos said the list Sonthi had was merely one of militant cells and sympathisers. "Knowing this will not solve any problems," he said.

Since January 4, 2004, more than 2,000 people have been killed in the predominantly Muslim region, and the government is struggling to contain the violence. Acts of violence are occurring on a daily basis.

Most disconcerting for the authorities is the fact that the

militants have made no demands, have claimed no responsibility for any acts of violence and have made no announcement of their objectives.

An attack yesterday on a military outpost in Narathiwat's Rangae district injured two soldiers. A group of militants sprayed bullets into the outpost during the early hours of the morning and wounded Corporal Decha Poum and Private Mahamarohfi Mayeng before slipping away into the darkness.