Thai authorities launched the major crackdown in late June. It has seen hundreds of people detained, often without charge, at army bases in the southern region along the Malaysian border.

Security forces carried out two raids on villages in Yala and Narathiwat provinces Tuesday, arresting 45 suspected insurgents, army spokesman Colonel Acra Tiproch told AFP.

The latest arrests bring to more than 200 the number of people detained in the region, Acra said.

Another 400 people have been detained and released, sometimes after being held for weeks without charge under sweeping powers granted to security forces under a state of emergency in the region, he added.

Analysts said the arrests appeared to bring down the level of violence in July, but the past week has seen a deadly surge in attacks.

Two soldiers were killed and two others wounded in a roadside bombing in Pattani province on Tuesday, police said.

They were part of a security team escorting teachers home from school.