Experts believe that Bersatu has no more than 60 trained terrorists.  The group retains no permanent bases but attacks government forces and soft targets in guerilla faction, avoiding large armed clashes.  In May, 2004, Bersatu issued a public warning to tourists to avoid the resort town of Phuket.  Phuket, Thailand's center of tourism, is north-west of the area of Bersatu's insurgent activities, and has not been a target of separatists in the past.  Some believe that the warning was made in response to the events of April 28, 2004, in which Thai security forces killed 107 Muslims, including 32 inside a mosque.

The Birsa Commando Force (BCF) is a separatist group made up of ethnic Santhals, an Indian minority group that lives in several northeastern Indian states.  The Birsa Commando Force was founded in response to ethnic clashes between Santhals and Bodos (another minority group) in the state of Assam.  Bodos and Santhals both demand independent states in Assam, and have often clashed over territory and economic issues.  Santhals make up a large majority of tea-workers in Assam, which has created a backlash among Bodos who resent the Santhal's higher economic standing.<P><br /><br />In 1996, Bodos killed several hundred Santhals in what many sources have termed an "ethnic cleansing."  In response, several Santhal military outfits were formed to prevent further attacks from well armed Bodo groups such as the National Democratic Front of Bodoland.  The Birsa Commando Force- named after a famous Santhal who fought the British in the 19th Century-was one such group.  <P><br /><br />Although the BCF is mostly a protection outfit for Santhals, they are technically a separatist group as well, and have carried out several small attacks on police and government targets.  In their most major terrorist incident in February 2003, suspected BCF rebels held two Agriculture Department employees from Hatkola (Kokrajhar district of Assam) for two days before releasing them.  Although the Indian government views the BCF as a small fish in a sea of much larger Assamese rebel groups, the government did engage BCF rebels in peace talks in 2004. After the talks, a cease-fire agreement was signed on August 14th of that year.  Since that time, the cease-fire has held, and BCF has not been responsible for further attacks.  <br />