A series of bloody battles between suspected Muslim militants and Thai police have left more than 100 people dead. Andrew Drummond in Bangkok says that there are fears of a Muslim backlash after evidence of a shoot-to-kill policy.

Why was the death toll so high?

The security forces were tipped-off that the suspected insurgents were planning to raid 15 police bases, allegedly in an attempt to steal arms. So, with the tip-off, people are asking why there was so much bloodshed. The fighting came to an end when a group holed up in a mosque was attacked by the security forces. Thirty four people died there, with not one survivor.

There are television pictures of today's violence showing the suspected insurgents with bullet wounds in the head. There are startling images of some of them on the ground. It looked like they had been shot while kneeling.

They were mostly teenagers armed with machetes, not guns. However they were wearing military trousers and armbands. Machetes are a common weapon, they are the standard utility tool for every farmer, a household item.

The death toll figures are disproportionate: three police, two soldiers, and up to 130 insurgents.

Has this happened before?

There has been a history of shoot-to-kill in Thailand. Not long ago 2,500 people were shot dead in a government clampdown on drugs dealing. Several years ago some Burmese insurgents came over the border and took over a hospital. The authorities killed all of them and there were indications that they had been shot at point blank range.

Thaksin Shinawatra, the Prime Minister, takes a hard line. He says that today insurgents were all bandits and Thailand has to deal severely with them. Questions are already being asked, but I'm not sure how satisfactory the answers will be, as we still have not had any over the drugs shootings.

Are the insurgents linked to foreign groups?

This violence is a local problem, but could be used by people with more international aims. One dead insurgent was reportedly wearing a Jemaah Islamiyah [JI] T-shirt [Indonesian group linked to al-Qaeda], but there is no definite connection with that group.

The southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Songkhla - where today's violence occurred - are in a predominantly Muslim part of the country, so there will be Islamic international sympathies down there.

There is no doubt that JI has been in Thailand. Hambali, a cleric who was wanted by the Indonesian Government in connection with the Bali bombings, was arrested recently just north of Bangkok - an area which is certainly used at the very least as a transit point.

Even if the southern area is not used by al-Qaeda or JI, there are fears now that this could provoke a reason for them to come in to Thailand.

What is the background to this violence?

There has been unrest in the area for more than 20 years or so, but it has been boiling over since January when an Army camp was raided and a lot of weapons were taken. There have been several nights recently when schools have been burnt. Police and even Buddhist monks have been shot.

Nobody can actually say what the unrest is over. People in the south have long considered themselves poorly treated by the Government. It's a Muslim area in a predominantly Buddhist country. They have to learn the Thai language when their native language is a form of Malay. Historically they were part of Malaysia.

The border provinces have been swapped over the years to stop wars. There are separatist groups, but whether any of them can be linked directly to today's attacks, it is too early to say.

Will this affect tourism?

The violence will deter tourists from Malaysia coming to southern Thailand. Thousands come every weekend, but their Government is now advising them not to go.

One of the provinces, Songkhla, is a pretty beach area. Western tourists do not go there in large numbers. Phuket is the nearest major draw for Westerners and that is about 150 miles to 200 miles (241km - 322km) north. The British Government has already issued a travel advisory warning against travel to southern Thailand.

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