Welcome to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) Newsletter!

 

On 1 February 2021, the Myanmar military, also known as Tatmadaw, took over the power from the democratically elected ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), and detained President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.

 

A wave of protests followed the takeover, with people demanding the NLD be reinstated. Dispersing them violently was the military's response. People's attitudes began to change as the number of killings of peaceful protesters increased, signaling the intensification of the conflict. Armed resistance replaced slogans in the streets in April 2021 and the National Unity Government (NUG) was established, claiming to be the legitimate government of Myanmar. On May 2021, NUG formed People Defence Forces (PDF) as an armed wing, and on 7 September 2021, NUG officially declared war on the regime to end the military rule. Read more about the developments since the declaration below.

 

For any questions, suggestions, or comments, you may contact us at ucdp@pcr.uu.se.


Sincerely,

Magnus Öberg

UCDP Director

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Mert Can Yilmaz, Uppsala Conflict Data Program

The fighting continued in eastern Ukraine in August 2022, causing at least 1500 fatalities.

 

While the trends in Europe dominated the figures on the fatalities due to armed organized violence, we noted an upward trend in every region except Asia when compared to July 2022. The intensity of organized violence in Asia remained at a similar level.

 

The five deadliest state-based conflicts in August were Russia - Ukraine, Somalia: Government, Ukraine: Novorossiya, Myanmar: Government, and Burkina Faso: Government.

 

Conflicts between SNA and SDF in Syria dominated non-state violence in August 2022, causing nearly 75 fatalities. The clashes between Jalisco Cartel New Generation and various other cartels in Mexico caused at least 320 deaths during the month. Non-state violence in DR Congo was also noteworthy during this month.

 

DR Congo was significantly affected by one-sided violence in August 2022 with over 300 civilians deliberately killed by organized actors. IS's one-sided attacks in DR Congo, Mali, Afghanistan, Mozambique and Syria caused almost 275 fatalities in total during this month. One-sided violence by the government forces in Myanmar was also noteworthy.

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Amber Deniz, Uppsala Conflict Data Program

7 September 2022 marks one year since the National Unity Government's (NUG) declaration of a defensive war against the military regime in Myanmar.

 

Since 1 February 2021, the people of Myanmar have been fighting against the military to bring back the democratically elected government. However, through the declaration of war, the nationwide armed struggle turned into a multi-fronted war between the Myanmar military and People Defence Forces (PDF) set up by the NUG as their armed wing and their allied ethnic armed organizations (EAO). Their escalated attacks continue to target military convoys aiming to diminish the military’s ability to send reinforcements to the contested areas and to prevent military raids in the residential areas.

 

In response to daily attacks by the PDFs and EAOs, the military regime increased its atrocities that have included raids, massacres, abducting civilians to be used as human shields, burning people alive, executions of resistance fighters, airstrikes and shelling on residential areas and IDP camps, lootings, and burning down villages.

 

Since the declaration of the defensive war, the NUG has established over 300 PDF battalions nationwide and has gained control over 52% of Myanmar, while the military regime has stable control over 17% of the territory. Moreover, the resistance fighters are actively fighting in further 23% of the territory.

 

The alliance between the PDFs and the EAOs, that have been fighting the Myanmar military for decades, strengthens the fighting abilities of the newly formed PDFs. Groups such as KIO in the north, KNU in the south, CNF in the northwest, and KNPP in the east, stepped up their attacks against the military and have been conducting joint operations with the PDFs.

 

The conflict caused by the coup led to a total of 1560 fatalities in Myanmar in 2021, and over 1660 fatalities in 2022, as of 7 September.

The Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) is the world’s main provider of data on organized violence and the oldest ongoing data collection project for civil war, with a history of almost 40 years. Its definition of armed conflict has become the global standard of how conflicts are systematically defined and studied.

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Uppsala Conflict Data Program

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