BANGKOK: Three years after a separatist revolution erupted in Thailand’s Muslim south, rebel attacks have grown more frequent and gruesome amid signs that young radical Islamists are taking a greater role.

Less than a week ago the charred corpses of two teachers were left near a school in Yala, where they were found by police shortly before children would have begun arriving for class.

It was part of an escalating saga of mutilations, shootings, bombings and arson despite significant peace-building moves by the new government, put in place after September’s military coup.

Yesterday was the third anniversary of a Jan 4, 2004 militant raid on a southern army base which revived the long-running separatist militancy in the region bordering Malaysia, resulting in more than 1,800 deaths since.

It comes as the country is still investigating who set off a deadly series of new year’s eve bombs in Bangkok which prompted fears the southern conflict could be widening, although the government denies a link to the militancy.

The military-backed government admits its initiatives have failed largely because it has yet to identify who is responsible for almost-daily attacks in the provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala.

Older generations of fighters have expressed a readiness for dialogue, but it has done nothing to stop the violence, spearheaded by loosely organised groups of young fighters.

While analysts agree the struggle remains largely one for autonomy, Sunai Phasuk, Thailand representative for Human Rights Watch, has observed a more disturbing trend.

“Militant cells in Yala have demonstrated the inclination toward radical Islamic struggle to justify the attacks,” he told AFP, adding that this small element wanted to drive Buddhists out and would likely reject peace measures.

“(For) the radical cells, this is a matter of armed struggle to the end,” he warned, saying the government must ensure it is making peace overtures to the right people.

Wan Kadir Che Wan, head of Bersatu, an umbrella organisation for southern separatist groups, told Al Jazeera television in a recent interview that young fighters were unwilling to negotiate because they believed they were winning their fight for a separate state.

“This new generation of people, they are very young and they are very determined... the old generation can compromise but this new generation seems to still want independence,” Wan Kadir said.

“Not only independence, but they want to establish an Islamic state of Pattani,” he added.

Despite emerging signs of radical Islamists in Yala, the violence remains targeted at both Buddhist and Muslim civilians.

“It has been a steady deterioration since Jan 2004 and the main trends are civilians are being targeted,” said Francesca Lawe-Davies, an analyst with International Crisis Group.

“There is a danger the government is not going to be able to follow with (its peace-building) policy if there are no tangible results, so it is a matter of persevering,” she added.

Ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra’s heavy-handed tactics were widely blamed for exacerbating unrest in the south, an autonomous Malay sultanate annexed by Buddhist Thailand in 1902 which has rebelled sporadically ever since.

Since the military junta led by General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, a Muslim, seized power, the government has reopened a key mediation centre, apologised to the Muslim community and offered to meet revolutionary leaders -- but with little effect so far.

As well as beheadings and the mutilation of corpses becoming more common, another disturbing trend is the targeting of teachers and students.

More than 60 teachers and 10 students have been killed in Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani, while 110 schools have been set ablaze.

“The biggest problem for the government is that it has inherited the hostility of the Malay-Muslims from the Thaksin administration,” said Joseph Liow, an analyst at Singapore’s Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies.

Liow said it was key to build trust in the region, where Malay Muslims feel isolated from Buddhist Thailand, but warned: “The situation is likely to get worse before it gets better.”

—AFP