Thailand is sending reinforcements to the Muslim south, expecting more violence from the RoP: Troops Boost Thai Muslim South; New Attacks Feared.

PATTANI, Thailand (Reuters) - More than 800 heavily armed troops arrived in Thailand’s Muslim south Monday where authorities are on full alert for possible suicide attacks after a bloody uprising last week, officials said.

The soldiers, mostly veterans of a peacekeeping mission in East Timor, will join a stepped up security effort in the region after clashes killed 108 militants and five security men last Wednesday.

Police suspect the next wave of violence in the restive south could involve suicide bomb attacks.

“We have sent out warnings to security agencies in the region to be on alert and vigilant against possible suicide bombs after the Wednesday incidents,” a police general told reporters.

More than 100 machete-wielding, suspected Muslim militants were shot dead during dawn attacks last week on security posts aimed at seizing weapons. Three policemen and two soldiers were also killed. It was the latest and most serious incident since a Muslim separatist movement, dormant for the past two decades, flared up in January when raiders attacked an army depot and stole hundreds of automatic rifles and other weapons. …

“Our questioning of captured Muslims shows that some people have abused the religious issue, hiring people for only 300 baht each to use machetes to kill people with the promise that doing so would help them to see God,” [Prime Minister] Thaksin told reporters.