Current Events Related to Myanmar

ASEAN

A Veteran Diplomat From Laos, the New ASEAN Special Envoy for Myanmar, Embarks on Inaugural Mission

A Veteran Diplomat From Laos, the New ASEAN Special Envoy for Myanmar, Embarks on Inaugural Mission Khaosod English

Myanmar junta asks ethnic armies, political parties to meet new ASEAN envoy

Myanmar’s military junta has invited representatives from several ethnic armies and heads of political parties to meet with the new ASEAN special envoy during a planned visit this week. Colonel Saw Kyaw Nyunt, the General Secretary of the Karen National Liberation Army Peace Council, said that his group expects to discuss ways to end the country’s political crisis and facilitate humanitarian assistance amid widespread violence – a process that began during Indonesia’s chairmanship last year.

Conflict

Myanmar Junta Moves to Retake Major Shan State Camp

Thanbo camp, near the regime’s hub at Pyin Oo Lwin, fell to resistance forces this week and is now under attack from land and air.

TNLA and PDF Capture SAC Camp in Nawngkio Township

Troops from Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Mandalay People’s Defense Force (PDF) recently seized a State Administration Council (SAC) camp in Thanbo village. The PDF reported launching the attack on the camp in Nawngkio Township on January 2, capturing it by 7 am the following morning. The camp commander’s Lt-Col Thet Aung, was captured […]

The post TNLA and PDF Capture SAC Camp in Nawngkio Township appeared first on Shan Herald Agency for News.

MNDAA Captures Laukkai

On Thursday, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) secured control of Laukkai after the remaining forces of the regime surrendered, granting the Kokang group dominance over the Kokang Self-administered Zone. According to an anonymous source, MNDAA pledged to relocate all members of the Laukkai Regional Operation Command, who were in control of the town […]

The post MNDAA Captures Laukkai appeared first on Shan Herald Agency for News.

Myanmar anti-junta groups claim capture of military camp in Shan state

Mynanmar’s anti-junta forces Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Mandalay People’s Defense Force (PDF) jointly seized a junta military camp in Than Bo village in northern Shan state on Wednesday, according to the groups on Thursday. The seized junta camp is under the command of the junta’s Central Region Military Command, which has between 50 and 100 forces, according to the TNLA on Friday.

Resistance groups claim capture of 2 Myanmar cities

Since the Three Brotherhood Alliance’s Operation 1027 began in late October, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army’s fighters have claimed control of most major areas in Hseni. All junta troops from Hseni and Kutkai withdrew and fled to Lashio on Sunday afternoon, said one local who has been following military movements in the area.

Myanmar resistance group launches attack on junta naval base

An ethnic army attacked a junta naval base in western Myanmar, locals told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday. Danyawaddy Naval Base retaliated during the attack using heavy artillery and small arms, reported one resident, who declined to be named for security reasons.

The implications of Myanmar junta's surprise setback

In a stunning turn of events, the Myanmar military’s Regional Operations Command in Laukkai last week surrendered to the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, marking a significant and unexpected shift in the ongoing conflict. The implications of this surrender, coupled with the Three Brotherhood Alliance’s rapid gains across northern Shan state, pose a major problem for the military in the northern region and present a formidable challenge for junta chief Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.

Crime & Narcotics

“Golden Triangle” Drug Trade Booms After 2021 Coup In Myanmar

“Golden Triangle” Drug Trade Booms After 2021 Coup In Myanmar The Organization for World Peace

Myanmar’s drug trade is thriving after a military coup in 2021, which ended a brief 10-year democratic experiment and re-imposed complete military governance.

41,000 suspects involved in northern Myanmar telecom, online fraud handed over to Chinese police: Ministry of Public ...

41,000 suspects involved in northern Myanmar telecom, online fraud handed over to Chinese police: Ministry of Public ... Global Times

Notorious Myanmar Arms Broker Convicted of Cash Smuggling in Singapore

US-sanctioned Kyaw Min Oo and two accomplices were caught at Changi airport with over half a million dollars.

Economy

Myanmar Border Trade Falls $100 Million in April-December Amid Clashes

Myanmar Border Trade Falls $100 Million in April-December Amid Clashes The Irrawaddy

Hopes and fears seen as Myanmar junta eases forex rules to raise foreign currency

“Previously, the military junta was maintaining what they call a managed float that was trying to control the exchange rate between the Myanmar currency, the kyat, and the U.S. dollar in particular, trying to keep it within a certain range and intervening in the markets if the range got too high or too low,” said Michael Martin, a consultant and scholar on Myanmar. The new policy marked a U-turn by the military regime, which had tightened forex controls several times since the Feb. 1, 2021 overthrow of the country's elected government, shifting from its predecessors’ managed floating exchange rate system to tighter administrative controls.

Ethnic Issues

Good Rebels or Good Timing?: Myanmar's MNDAA and Operation 1027

Good Rebels or Good Timing?: Myanmar's MNDAA and Operation 1027 The Diplomat

The rebel group has shed its reputation as an opium trafficking syndicate and pledged itself to the Spring Revolution. Is its transformation more than skin deep?

SHAN POLITICAL LANDSCAPE IN 2024: A nationwide revolution starting point or territorial expansion and ethnonationalism hotbed?

As the year begins, news of the junta or State Administration Council (SAC) defeat at a lighting speed which seems unstoppable, in its fight against the assorted revolutionary forces countrywide against its rule hit the headlines. To start with Laukkai, capital of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone, fall into the hands of Myanmar National Democratic Alliance […]

The post SHAN POLITICAL LANDSCAPE IN 2024: A nationwide revolution starting point or territorial expansion and ethnonationalism hotbed? appeared first on Shan Herald Agency for News.

Foreign Affairs

Is China Playing Both Sides in Myanmar?

Is China Playing Both Sides in Myanmar? Foreign Policy

General News

Myanmar junta jails documentary filmmaker for life

The journalist and award-winning documentary filmmaker Shin Daewe was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for violating Myanmar’s Anti-terrorism Law, prompting an outcry from rights groups and members of the media who called for her immediate release. Known for her work highlighting the challenges facing Myanmar’s environment and the impact of conflict on civilians following the military’s 2021 coup, the 50-year-old Shin Daewe was arrested on Oct. 15 in Yangon’s North Okkapala township while picking up a video drone she had ordered online to use in filming a documentary, her husband Ko Oo told RFA Burmese.

University student population has plunged 90% since coup

Students and instructors interviewed by RFA Burmese, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing security concerns, said the decline in enrollment numbers reflects their choice to boycott the junta’s education system and join the resistance movement. On Nov. 23, the junta re-opened 47 universities across the country and 24,243 students enrolled for the 2023-24 academic years, according to statistics published by the Department of Higher Education.

Military

Myanmar Junta Detains Generals Who Surrendered to Resistance in Laukkai

The detention of the six brigadier generals is required under the military’s rules following last week’s surrender to the MNDAA, which was approved by the junta boss.

‘Myanmar Military in Chaos,’ Swift Capture of Strategic Outpost Shows

Many of the more than 200 junta troops captured on Wednesday at Shan State outpost after brief battle were medics, firemen and factory workers.

Nearly 3 dozen political prisoners died in Myanmar jails in 2023

Some 34 political prisoners died in military junta’s prisons across Myanmar in 2023, with 18 killed inside jails and 16 others dying due to a lack of medical treatment, a human rights monitoring group said Tuesday. An official at the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Thailand-based prisoner monitoring group, who was imprisoned by the junta in Myanmar, told RFA on condition of anonymity that he and others were tortured at an interrogation center.