The Religion of Peace™ is nothing if not resourceful: Thai militants learn from Iraq insurgency. (Hat tip: Ethel.)

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) — Islamic separatists in violence-wracked southern Thailand have begun to employ weapons and tactics that appear to be imported from the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to analysts and experts.

One technique in particular, the use of a cement casing around a homemade bomb which both disguises it to look like a roadside marker and increases its lethality by creating razor sharp shards of concrete shrapnel, seems to have been imported directly from Iraq.

‘That comes straight from Iraq — or at least from the same training manuals they`re using in Iraq,’ said Zachary Abuza, author of ‘Crucible of Terror’ — widely considered the definitive study of Islamic extremism in Southeast Asia. ‘Certainly, those kinds of tactics were never used in Thailand before.’

Over the past year, the separatists have undergone ‘a remarkable transformation. It`s unique … I`ve never seen anything like it before in an insurgency,’ said defense analyst Jeff Moore who has written about the issue for Jane`s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre.

Moore told United Press International that during 2004 there were a half dozen raids and ambushes against Thai security forces and other targets, but in 2005, there were nearly 90.
‘Almost overnight they went from a gang of saboteurs and assassins to a small army. A guerilla army, but an army nonetheless,’ he said.