Thailand’s military insisted Saturday that security was improving in the country’s restive south and that peace would come to the region in 2008, despite New Year’s Eve bombings that injured dozens.

Authorities have detained more than 800 insurgents over the past 12 months in a stepped-up offensive against rebels in the Muslim-dominated south, army spokesman Akara Thiprote said.

The violence has claimed nearly 2,700 people in the southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, and some parts of neighboring Songkhla, since a long-simmering Islamic separatist insurgency flared up in January 2004.

“The security force is confident that we can bring the situation under control now,” Akara told The Associated Press. “Since we have a clearer picture of the hardcore insurgents and can limit their movements, the situation will gradually improve and we will bring peace to the region in 2008.”

The upbeat assessment comes less than a week after insurgents launched a brazen New Year’s Eve attack on the Thai-Malaysian border town of Sungai Kolok. Five bombs exploded in the town’s hotel and night life district, wounding 27 people, many of them New Year’s revelers.

It also follows a report last month by the global security think tank International Crisis Group, which found the government’s reliance on thousands of poorly trained paramilitary forces was undermining the army’s fight against the insurgents. These forces have also been accused of human rights abuses, the group said.

The government has made little progress in curbing the violence, despite the presence of nearly 40,000 police and soldiers.

The insurgents have never publicly announced their identity, and it was not possible to reach them for comment.

Akara said the insurgents arrested by the military over the past year have given authorities some information about the rebel groups and where they are hiding. He said the army has learned that about 400 insurgents from Thailand received terror training in Indonesia from 1990 to 2000.

Akara also said there were signs that public opinion was turning against the insurgents, with more villagers flying the Thai national flag in front of their homes and coming out at night to shop and visit entertainment venues.

“People are braver and more confident,” Akara said. “The night life in the entertainment places is resuming. Karaoke lounges are now full of customers.”