Regional Overview: Asia-Pacific | March 2023

Myanmar: Military targets civilians in Sagaing region and southern Shan state

Incidents of violence targeting civilians by state forces increased in March compared to the previous month. In Sagaing region, a column composed of Light Infantry Division 99 troops, which has come to be known as the ‘Ogre Column,’ carried out a number of civilian killings as it made its way across the region. Several civilians were reportedly killed following a raid on Tar Taing village in Sagaing township early in the month. A few weeks after the violence in Tar Taing, on 19 March, coup leader Min Aung Hlaing visited the Northwestern Regional Command base in Monywa.¹The military’s campaign of violence in the region falls under the Northwestern Regional Command.² Meanwhile, as fighting between the military and resistance forces intensified in Kayah and southern Shan states, resistance groups reported that the military had killed dozens of people in Nan Neint village in southern Shan state.³

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Afghanistan: Political violence involving the Islamic State increases

At least 12 political violence events involving the Islamic State were reported in Afghanistan last month, marking a fourfold increase compared to February. In recent months, Islamic State fighters have repeatedly targeted Taliban officials amid ongoing Taliban operations against the group. In late March, an Islamic State suicide bomber reportedly killed six employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, marking the second attack on the ministry so far in 2023. Earlier in the month, the Balkh governor was killed in a separate Islamic State suicide bombing. In addition to attacks on Taliban officials, the Islamic State also targeted the media in a bomb attack on a ceremony honoring journalists in Mazar-e-Sharif city in Balkh province. The group claimed it carried out the attack against journalists for their involvement in the “war and instigation against IS.”⁴

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Pakistan: PTI-led demonstrations spike as Imran Khan faces corruption case

Supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan took to the streets across Pakistan in March against attempts to arrest Khan over non-compliance with a court summons in a corruption case. Outside Khan’s residence in Lahore, hundreds of his supporters threw stones and petrol bombs at police to thwart his arrest.⁵ On 18 March, Khan arrived in Islamabad for a court hearing amid clashes between PTI activists and police outside the judicial complex. In his absence, police entered and searched his residence in Lahore, clashing with PTI activists present at the site.⁶ Pakistan police have arrested hundreds of PTI activists for violence during the demonstrations.⁷ Khan has dismissed the corruption allegations as being politically motivated and has reiterated concerns about his personal safety following an assassination attempt last year. The latest developments come amid ongoing demonstrations by the PTI demanding early national elections, which are currently scheduled for later this year.⁸

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Bangladesh: Rohingya refugees subject to increasing violence

Violence targeting Rohingya refugees is on the rise in Bangladesh. While much of this violence is underreported, at least eight separate attacks by unidentified assailants were reported in Cox’s Bazar in March, resulting in the deaths of multiple refugees. The attacks come amid ongoing tensions between the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army and the Rohingya Solidarity Organization – rival armed Rohingya groups active in the camps. The two groups clashed earlier in the month, and a subsequent fire in one of the refugee camps, which left thousands homeless, was thought to stem from the conflict.⁹

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Philippines: Negros Oriental governor killed amid ongoing targeting of local administrators

On 4 March, unidentified assailants targeted Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo, killing him along with a barangay chairman, barangay councilor, and six other civilians. The attack took place at the governor’s home in Barangay San Isidro in Pamplona, Negros Oriental. The killing came a month after the Supreme Court declared Degamo the winner of the governorship over his rival, Pryde Henry Teves, who was initially declared the winner.¹⁰ The Department of Justice is investigating Teves’s brother, a congressman, for allegedly orchestrating the attack.¹¹ Following the governor’s killing, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called for a crackdown on illegal firearms and private armies.¹² Since the beginning of the year, ACLED has recorded dozens of attacks on local administrators in the Philippines.

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