ConflictBarometer_2016

ASIA AND OCEANIA
sisted by the army, clashed with members of the Maute Group
at the border of Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao. [→ Philippines
(Abu Sayyaf)] prü
TAJIKISTAN (ISLAMIST GROUPS)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 1997
Conflict parties: various Islamist groups vs. government
Conflict items:
system/ideology, national power
The violent crisis over the orientation of the political system
and national power between various Islamist groups and
the government continued. Following the alleged coup attempt
of Islamist militants led by then-deputy defense minister
Abduhalim Nazarzoda on 10/04/15 and the subsequent
ban of the oppositional Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan
(IRPT), two deputy heads of the party were sentenced
to life in prison along with eleven top party officials being
sentenced to prison terms between 14 and 28 years. In total,
according to officials, 170 people had been sentenced
to prison terms between one and 30 years for their alleged
involvement. Furthermore, the government continued to restrict
the practice of religion in everyday life, including the
ban of Arabic-sounding names and marriages between first
cousins as well as demanding mosques to install security
cameras [→ Tajikistan (opposition)].
Throughout the year, several people were arrested for allegedly
supporting Islamist militant groups. For instance, on
February 18, a court in Norak, Khatlon Region, sentenced thirteen
men to prison terms between ten and 27 years, after they
allegedly had raised a flag of the so-called Islamic State (IS)
in public [→ Syria, Iraq et al. (IS)]. On May 9, four suspected IS
supporters were detained for allegedly planning to carry out
attacks.
Moreover, on February 22, a regional military court announced
that an army border guard had been sentenced to
17 years in jail for deserting his post and illegally crossing
the Afghan border trying to join the Taliban militant group [→
Afghanistan (Taliban et al.)]. On March 5, a suspected Islamist
and a border guard were killed in a shootout, after nine armed
militants had crossed the border from Afghanistan. According
to Afghan officials, they were members of the Afghan Taliban
controlling parts of the Afghan Kunduz Province bordering
Tajikistan.
Furthermore, several imams and citizens were jailed for being
members of extremist groups or for being followers of a
banned branch of Islam. For example, on April 19, officials
stated that an Imam and four citizens had been sentenced to
prison terms for propagating the banned Salafi branch of Islam.
On May 19, officials announced that five imams had been
arrested for recruiting young people to join Islamist militant
groups abroad. On August 30, the US State Department offered
a USD 3 million reward for information about the UStrained
former commander of the Tajik special forces OMON,
Gumurod Halimov, who had joined IS in Syria in 2015 and was
reportedly a leading IS member.
On January 30, a senior Russian general announced plans to
161
downsize troops in the military base in Tajikistan from a division
to a brigade, although in 2015 Russia had emphasized
the importance of securing the Tajik-Afghan border and had
announced to increase its troops from 7,000 to 9,000. From
April 18 to April 22, about 1,500 troops from Tajikistan, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia took part in military
exercises organized by the Collective Security Treaty Organization
against possible threats by IS militants. Furthermore,
on September 26, the Tajik government announced plans to
sign an agreement with the People's Republic of China to have
the latter finance the construction of eleven military outposts
at the Tajik-Afghan border and a training center for border
guards. From October 20 to 24, Tajik-Chinese anti-terror drills,
involving at least 10,000 troops, took place near the border
with Afghanistan.
fsc
THAILAND (ISLAMIST SEPARATISTS / SOUTHERN
BORDER PROVINCES)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 1902
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
BRN, PULO vs. government
secession, system/ideology
The violent conflict over secession and ideology between various
Islamist separatists, such as Barisan Revolusi Nasional
(BRN) and Pattani United Liberation Organisation (PULO), on
the one hand, and the government, on the other, continued.
The Islamist separatists sought the separation of the predominantly
Muslim southern border provinces Narathiwat, Pattani,
Songkhla, and Yala. Mara Patani, an umbrella organization of
separatist groups formed in 2015, and the government held
peace talks on ceasefire zones and development projects,
reaching no agreement.
Throughout the year, separatists carried out numerous attacks
primarily targeting security personnel and civil servants. According
to NGO Deep South Watch, the conflict resulted in
approx. 244 people killed and 454 injured. On February 27,
separatists placed an IED in front of a police station in Muang
district, Pattani, injuring at least six policemen and one civilian.
On March 13, about 40 separatists seized the district hospital
in Cho Ai Rang district, Narathiwat, using it to attack a
nearby military post, which left seven soldiers injured. One
day later, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha ordered an increase
in security personnel in the southern border provinces
due to the latest violence. On March 16, the UN Human Rights
Office for South-East Asia condemned the seizing of the hospital.
On June 1, police officers clashed with allegedly BRNlinked
separatists in Chanae district, Narathiwat, leaving four
separatists and one police man dead, as well as several separatists
injured. Between August 10 and 12, BRN members
placed 16 IEDs in the more northern provinces of Trang, Krabi,
Phuket, Phang-nga, Nokhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani and
Hua Hin, leaving four dead and 35 injured. On August 23,
separatists planted IEDs near a hotel and a restaurant in Pattani
city in the eponymous province, killing two civilians, injuring
35, and damaging 68 buildings. On September 2, BRN
members planted an IED outside a school in Tak Bai district,