JAKARTA: Muslims in much of Asia began celebrating the holy month of Ramazan on Wednesday, with hardliners in Indonesia vowing to raid “sinful” bars after police steamrollered a mountain of alcohol and porn.

Tens of millions across the Muslim world fast from dawn to dusk and strive to be more pious and charitable during the month, which ends with the Eid holiday.

But Ramadan began in war-torn Afghanistan with a bomb blast, and there was tight security in parts of the southern Philippines after deadly clashes with Muslim rebels.

In Indonesia, which has the world's biggest Muslim population, hardliners use Ramazan as an excuse to attack nightspots and shops that openly sell alcohol, the consumption of which is against Islamic law.

In the Catholic-majority Philippines, there were tight security at the start of Ramazan in southern Muslim-populated areas after weekend clashes between troops and Islamic rebels left eight dead.

Before Ramazan began, authorities ordered a halt in military operations against a rebel splinter group that is seeking to derail peace negotiations between the country's largest Muslim guerrilla force and Manila.

In Malaysia people were looking forward to breaking their fast at markets in a country whose multiethnic make-up — it is Muslim-majority but has sizeable Chinese and Indian communities — is reflected in a vast and varied selection of food. Bangladesh was set for a few weeks of calm when Ramazan starts late on Wednesday as the protests and marches that are so common in the country normally die down during the holy month.

Ramazan begins on Thursday in some Asian countries with large Muslim populations, including Pakistan and India.—AFP