BANGKOK, July 31, 2023 (AFP) – A bomb blast in southeastern Myanmar killed one person and wounded 12 others on Monday, an official said. Violent clashes have ramped up since the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in February 2021, unleashing a bloody crackdown on dissent that has left thousands dead. The junta has been battling anti-coup “People’s Defence Force” (PDF) militias, as well as long-established ethnic rebel armies that control large areas […]
Tag: aseaninfocus
Death toll rises to at least 10 in Thai warehouse explosion
BANGKOK, July 30, 2023 (AFP) – The death toll from a powerful explosion that levelled an unlicensed fireworks warehouse in southern Thailand rose to at least 10 on Sunday, the local governor said as police sought the owner on charges of negligence. The blast Saturday afternoon in the town of Sungai Kolok was believed to have been caused by welding during construction work on a building storing fireworks illegally. More than 100 people were injured […]
Three Myanmar students killed in military raid
BANGKOK, July 28, 2023 (AFP) – At least three Myanmar students were killed in an early morning military raid in the country’s northwest, a student union said Friday. The Southeast Asian nation’s junta has unleashed deadly violence on its opponents since the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in a February 2021 coup. The junta is facing resistance from anti-coup “People’s Defence Force” militias and long-established ethnic rebel armies. The All-Burma Federation of […]
Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi moved from prison: party official
YANGON, July 28, 2023 (AFP) – Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was ousted in a 2021 military coup, has been moved from prison to a government building, an official from her party said Friday. Suu Kyi has only been seen once since she was held after the February 1, 2021 putsch — in grainy state media photos from a bare courtroom in the military-built capital Naypyidaw. The coup plunged the Southeast Asian […]
UN criticises Cambodia election restrictions, threats
GENEVA, July 26, 2023 (AFP) – The United Nations on Wednesday said Cambodia’s general elections were held in a severely restricted environment surrounded by threats and intimidation that created a chilling effect. UN human rights chief Volker Turk slammed the circumstances behind Sunday’s vote as the victor, Prime Minister Hun Sen, announced he would resign and hand power to his eldest son after almost four decades of hardline rule. Turk said the elections were conducted […]
Villagers say 14 killed as Myanmar violence flares
BANGKOK, July 24, 2023 (AFP) – Fighting between the Myanmar army and anti-junta rebels has flared in recent days, with locals in one village saying Saturday that more than a dozen people were killed in a single raid. Deadly violence has engulfed Myanmar since the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in February 2021 and unleashed a bloody crackdown on dissent that has left thousands dead. The junta has been battling anti-coup “People’s […]
Thai FM says met Myanmar’s Suu Kyi in first foreign envoy talks since coup
JAKARTA, July 12, 2023 (AFP) – Thailand’s foreign minister said Wednesday he met with ousted Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi last week and she was in good health in her first known meeting with a foreign envoy since she was detained following a 2021 coup. Suu Kyi has been seen only once since she was held after the February 1, 2021, putsch — in grainy state media photos from a bare courtroom in […]
ASEAN moves joint drills from disputed South China Sea area
JAKARTA, June 20, 2023 (AFP) – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has moved its first-ever joint drills, Indonesia’s military said Tuesday, edging them away from waters disputed by China. The bloc’s joint exercises were initially slated for the North Natuna Sea, which Indonesia claims as its exclusive economic zone but where Beijing’s ships occasionally patrol. When confronted by Jakarta, China has invoked the so-called nine-dash line, which demarcates an area it claims to have […]
Indonesia orders 13 long-range military radars from Thales
PARIS, June 18, 2023 (AFP) – Indonesia has ordered 13 long-range military radars from Thales to boost airspace surveillance efforts across its immense archipelago, the French manufacturer and state-owned Indonesian defence firm PT Len Industri said Sunday. The Ground Master 400 Alpha (GM400a) radars will allow the Indonesian military to “benefit from a single air picture integrating the detection of all types of threats, from jets and missiles to hovering helicopters and unmanned air vehicles”, […]
6,000 Myanmar civilians killed in 20 months post coup: report
OSLO, June 13, 2023 (AFP) – More than 6,000 civilians were killed in Myanmar in the first 20 months after the February 2021 military coup, a report published Tuesday by the Peace Research Institute of Oslo said. “Our data shows that the human toll of the conflict is higher than previously reported, and while the junta is clearly the main killer, anti-junta forces also have large amounts of blood on their hands,” Stein Tonnesson, one […]
Indonesia Indigenous group requests internet blackout
JAKARTA, June 9, 2023 (AFP) – An Indigenous community in Indonesia has requested an internet blackout in their area to minimise the “negative impact” of the online world, officials said Friday. The Baduy, a community of 26,000 people in Banten province on Java island, divide themselves into an outer group that partly adopts technology, and a sacred inner group that shuns the trappings of contemporary life. The inner group asked authorities to shut down internet […]
Thai opposition parties lead in partial election results
BANGKOK, May 14, 2023 (AFP) – Thailand’s two main opposition parties took a strong lead in the popular vote as early election results trickled in Sunday, with the army-backed party of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha trailing in third. With votes counted from just over a quarter of polling stations, the reformist Move Forward Party (MFP) was on nearly two million votes, followed by Pheu Thai on 1.8 million, according to Election Commission figures. The numbers […]
