Two army engineers hurt in southern Thai bomb blast; IS East Asia key figure killed in Mindanao clash
And dozens more headlines in this latest weekly Southeast Asia armed conflict summary.
Southeast Asia experienced a range of conflicts and security challenges as indicated in last week’s headlines.
In Thailand, an insurgency continued in the southern provinces, marked by bomb attacks which injured and killed security personnel. Whilst the primary insurgent group BRN denied targeting civilians, police attributed numerous attacks to these groups. The Thai government indicated readiness for new peace talks, potentially involving Malaysia, even as it promised to apprehend perpetrators and escalated crackdowns in high-alert areas such as Yala.
The Philippines faced multiple active conflict fronts. This included ongoing operations against IS East Asia and communist terrorist leaders, which resulted in some key figures being killed and others surrendering. One of them, Nasser Daud, reportedly an IS East Asia key figure, I extensively reported on in past posts here. Simultaneously, tensions and poll-related violence, including killings of candidates and clashes between armed groups, escalated in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) ahead of today’s election. Clan violence (Rido) also posed a threat. The government aimed to end all insurgencies by 2028 and worked with groups such as the MILF to maintain peace during polls. Issues such as child warriors, "red-tagging" of activists, and election exploitation by insurgents persisted, alongside army deployments and the discovery of rebel caches.
Myanmar was in a state of escalating civil war following the 2021 coup. The junta was engaged in widespread conflict with the People’s Defence Force and various ethnic armed groups, employing bombings and airstrikes. This led to a severe humanitarian crisis, with over 118,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh amidst violence in Rakhine State, and the UN warning of unremitting violence against civilians. International dimensions included US sanctions on militias involved in cyber scams and the junta leader's planned visit to Moscow. Armed groups were also linked…