The Philippine military launched attacks on Muslim guerillas in Mindanao Aug. 9 after hundreds of fighters with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) defied an ultimatum to withdraw from Christian villages. At least six soldiers were wounded in clashes with the MILF in the villages in Aleosan and Pikit. The fighting has displaced up to 100,000 villagers in North Cotabato province. Residents of the predominantly Christian province have struggled to recover after Typhoon Fengshen ravaged farmlands in June. (AlJazeera, Aug. 10) On Aug. 10 there were reports of Philippine Air Force planes bombing MILF positions. The contested villages lie outside the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), where regional elections were to be held on Aug. 11. (Inquirer.net, Philippines, Aug. 11)

Cambodia informed the UN Security Council July 20 that Thai forces have violated its territory near the ancient Preah Vihear temple, with hundreds of troops facing off across the border. While Cambodia is not yet calling for UN intervention, some 300 were Thai troops equipped with grenade and rocket launchers were sent to the Phra Viharn national park July 19, with another 2,400 soldiers in Kantharalak district of Thailand's Si Sa Ket province. Some 2,000 Cambodian soldiers have been mobilized to the Cambodian side.

From the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN), July 14:

ETAN Renews Call for Meaningful Justice for Victims of Indonesian Occupation
International Tribunal Needed in Wake of Commission of Truth and Friendship Report
The new report of the bi-lateral Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) does little to advance accountability for the many crimes against humanity committed by Indonesia in Timor-Leste, the U.S.-based East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) said today. The report, Per Memoriam Ad Spem (From Memory to Hope), is scheduled to be handed to the presidents of Indonesia and Timor-Leste in Bali on Tuesday.

The Ahmadiyyah Muslim community in Indonesia is planning to file a lawsuit against the government over a new decree banning activities by the sect, condemned as "deviant" by protesters. "We ask the silent majority of moderate Muslims in Indonesia to speak out because now we are being held hostage by a small group of hardliners who commit violence and who want to change the ideology of our state," said Siti Musdah Mulia of the National Alliance for Religious Freedom.

Three people were killed and 20 injured when a bomb exploded May 28 at the offices of USAID-supported programs housed at the Philippine military's Edwin Andrews Air Base in Zamboanga, Mindanao. The dead included family members of Philippine military personnel waiting for a cargo flight to Manila, and children were among the injured. Edwin Andrews housed US Special Forces advisors before they were transfered to the Western Mindanao Philippine military command center, two kilometers away.

The price of rice in Burma has jumped 50% since Cyclone Nargis devastated the country's most important croplands and destroyed several fully stocked grain warehouses. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that the cyclone may "sharply decrease national rice production and impair access to food." And the disaster comes as global rice prices are at an unprecedented high.

From Democratic Voice of Burma, May 10:

The Burmese military regime held its national referendum in most of the country today, despite criticism from those who said it should be prioritising assistance for the victims of Cyclone Nargis.

Burmese soldiers and riot police opened fire at Insein Prison in Rangoon, killing 36 and injuring 70, after 1,500 inmates there rioted the aftermath of the devastating cyclone Nargis, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPPB). The facility, which houses many political prisoners, is described by former inmates as "the darkest hell-hole in Burma." AAPPB reported: "Even though prisoners requested prison guards to open the doors and move them to safety, the authorities ignored their request. Some prisoners set fire to the prison hall and a riot ensued." KAAPPB's Bo Kyi said: "The authorities are to blame for this situation. As soon as the storm hit, they should have moved the prisoners to safety." (The Telegraph, May 7)