"At the moment, the violence is escalating more and more. They are killing indiscriminately, and the situation will continue until those militants are killed," General Thammarak Issarangkura Na Ayutthaya said.

Each district in Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces will be declared either "violent" or "peaceful," he told reporters after a special national security meeting to address the mounting bloodshed.

"We will have to fight them in the violent zones," he warned, without specifying which areas would fall in the military's crosshairs.

The minister said a spate of beheadings this month -- including a man decapitated in broad daylight Wednesday at a roadside teashop in Narathiwat province -- was not necessarily the work of insurgents.

The beheadings could have been committed by narcotraffickers, gangs of extortionists, or owners of illegal casinos with ties to the militants, he said.

Thammarak spoke after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra held a special meeting of his security chiefs, including the heads of the army, police, the National Security Council, the National Intelligence Agency, and the interior and defence ministries.

The defence minister said the zoning scheme would begin once the government finishes training village self-defence forces -- teams of volunteers who receive military training and arms.