[Tee tiong huat]

Nearly 300 Myanmar soldiers flee to India after rebel gains....Nearly 300 Myanmar soldiers flee to India after rebel gains

Hundreds of other Myanmar troops have fled to India to escape fighting since the ceasefire ended in...

GUWAHATI, India – Nearly 300 Myanmar soldiers crossed the border into India to flee an advance by armed insurgents fighting the country’s junta, an Indian paramilitary officer told AFP on Jan 19.

Clashes have rocked parts of Myanmar near the Indian border since the Arakan Army (AA) attacked security forces in November 2023, ending a ceasefire that had largely held since a 2021 military coup.

This week, the group said it had taken over the major town of Paletwa and six military bases along the border of India’s Mizoram state, where the soldiers had crossed on Jan 17.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asi...ebel-gains

[Tee tiong huat]

More than four-fifths of the people who live in Myanmar’s smallest state have fled their homes since the coup, according to the interim government of the resistance stronghold.

About 350,000 of the 420,000 people who live in Karenni State and an adjacent township in southern Shan State, Pekon, are now internally displaced persons (IDPs), according to the interim government of the state, which is also known as Kayah.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/mor...e_vignette

[Tee tiong huat]

We killed many … drones are our air force’: Myanmar’s rebels take on the junta from above..A rebel drone squadron drawn from engineering students and hobbyists, who gain battlefield training partly through YouTube tutorials, is proving decisive in the struggle against Myanmar’s brutal military govt. As drones flew silently over western Myanmar’s Chin hills, junta did not know what was about to hit them, operators were hidden a few hundred metres away in the dense forest. As images on their screens indicated.

The drone fleet was hovering exactly above target & hit key military base in town of Lailenpi – they then hit button on their controllers &  bombs action began to fall. “We had precise hits,” said Noah, 20, one of specialist drone fighters in Chin National Army (CNA), one of the ethnic rebel groups who have fighting Myanmar’s military for almost 3-years. “It took them by surprise. We killed many, including 2nd-in-command of a base.” After 3-days fighting, rebels hoisted their tricolour flag over the base and shouted slogans of victory.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/j...ove-drones

[Tee tiong huat]

Bangladesh Moves to Boost Security on Myanmar Border...Dhaka — Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) chief visited frontier with Rakhine State where Arakan Army (AA) has seized a town & several of Myanmar’s junta outposts. BGB HQ said Major General AKM Nazmul Hasan visited troops @Bandarban, Palangkhali, Tekhnaf & Saint Martin Island in Cox’s Bazar, inspected defense system & instructed force to remain on high alert for threat of smuggling. A special meeting was held on Wednesday@Cox’s Bazar admin offices to address increasing smuggling of fuel, food & cooking oil to Myanmar through coastal areas.

The AA on Sunday seized town of Paletwa in southern Chin State, about 20km from Bangladesh border on the Kaladan River. A New Delhi-backed infrastructure initiative along Kaladan is underway to link India’s landlocked northeast to the Bay of Bengal.

A Bangladeshi home ministry source said Dhaka is closely observing developments in western Myanmar and the developing food shortages. Dhaka’s Business Standard reported on Thursday the Bangladeshi authorities have arrested 28 suspected smugglers and seized 7,636 liters of octane fuel, 136 liters of diesel and 3,752 liters of soybean oil destined for Myanmar.

The newspaper blamed the growing conflict with Myanmar’s junta in Rakhine State and Paletwa for the growing demand for essentials. Cox’s Bazar Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Shaheen Imran has asked oil pump owners and traders to submit weekly fuel and cooking oil transactions to his administration.

“The Bangladeshi boatmen are making huge profits, selling fuel at six to seven times Bangladeshi prices in Myanmar,” a Cox’s Bazar official Bangladeshis along Myanmar’s border told The Irrawaddy.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/ban...order.html

[Tee tiong huat]

India to fence off Myanmar frontier, scrap free-movement deal...A free-movement deal between India and Myanmar allows those in the border zones some visa-free access....NEW DELHI - India plans to erect a fence along its vast and porous frontier with Myanmar and will scrap a free-movement border zone agreement, Indian media reported on Jan 21.

The announcement by Home Minister Amit Shah comes after hundreds of troops from Myanmar who were fleeing insurgent attacks crossed into India.

The government had “decided to fence the entire open India-Myanmar border”, Mr Shah said on Jan 20 during a visit to the north-eastern state of Assam.

[Tee tiong huat]

Commentary: Three years on from coup, Myanmar’s civil war looks headed for a fourth year The international community has made some helpful gestures but remained at arm’s length. The people of Myanmar seem destined to fend for themselves.

Three years war only, since Myanmar’s armed forces (known as Tatmadaw) rejected National League for Democracy’s 2020 landslide election victory and seized power. The country soon descended into a bitter and costly civil war that shows no signs of ending. Both sides have vowed to fight on until they achieve an outright military victory.

The multi-faceted and hydra-headed opposition movement is divided over many political issues, but in recent months it has managed to reach an unprecedented level of cooperation at the military level. Led by several ethnic armed organisations, this has resulted in joint and coordinated operations over two thirds of the country, and a string of military successes.

The junta continues to dominate Myanmar’s heavily populated and economically important heartland, but it is facing unprecedented challenges on the battlefield. This could lead, at least in the short term, to an effective loss of control over the country’s outer-lying areas, including some important trade and communications links with India, China and Thailand.

Predictions of the junta’s imminent collapse are premature and misleading. The resilience of the generals should not be underestimated.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commenta...re-4059991

[Tee tiong huat]

Myanmar Ethnic Alliance Says Ceasefire Only Thing Keeping It From Taking More Towns.

Brotherhood Alliance of three powerful ethnic armies said Saturday it would have seized all of its targeted towns and cities in northern Shan State by now had it not felt bound to honor with the China-brokered ceasefire it agreed with Myanmar’s military regime.

Announcement comes after a week of flagrant ceasefire violations by Myanmar military, which has continued to use artillery and aircraft to strike both civilian targets and the territory of ethnic rebel groups across northern Shan and Mogoke Township in neighboring Mandalay Region.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/mya...towns.html

[Tee tiong huat]

Myanmar, January is month of victory. Seventy-six years ago, in 1948, Aung San Mara, the main coordinator of Myanmar's anti-colonial struggle, died days before independence. But the people of Burma—the Bamars, Kachins, Karens, Chins—did not lose hope. That January, they were dreaming of building a pluralistic federal state.

Seventy-six Januaries have come and gone, & much has changed, but dream remains unfulfilled. Even after all these years, January is reminding us of that very dream. The state has a new name, Myanmar, but old revolutionary "Burma," with arms in hand returned to strive for cause still too early to say when this dream will be fulfilled, but it's safe to say that the journey has already begun. Amid all this pointing out Myanmar is experiencing this historic juncture with no help from its neighbours, and how these countries will act still remains a critical question—one that may very well affect this country's future.

The struggle though guerilla warfare the last century, especially the 60s through 80s, was era of achieving liberation & political freedom through guerilla warfare. The century began with a epidemic lost democracies. Currently, there's perhaps only a handful of pockets where political guerilla warfare active in the world. Hamas is certainly at the frontlines in the Middle East, but in Asia, Myanmar is now the cradle of similar struggles. Hamas is conducting urban guerilla warfare, but the revolution in Myanmar has gone back to the traditional form, guerilla operations from the forests. Hamas' battlefield is a 41-kilometre stretch of land, while Bamars, Kachins, Karens and Chins are fighting all over Myanmar's hundreds of thousands of square kilometres. 

Both battlegrounds are worthy of attention from military experts; both have their political reverberations increasingly spilling out of their borders.
https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/vie...ar-3523631

[Tee tiong huat]

Will Myanmar Junta Boss Step Down? All Sides Now Want Him Gone.

Myanmar military is in serious trouble. Coup maker Senior General Min Aung Hlaing faces growing calls to resign—this time, not just from his opponents, but also from his allies. Internal dissent, defections and a breakdown in the chain of command. What’s next?.

Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing’s attempts to lead military and administer country in the 3-years since coup are seen as completely incompetent. If coup against him, what then? Would a coup lead to a genuine transition, or would he just be replaced by a hardline faction?.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/analys...-gone.html

[Tee tiong huat]

Will Myanmar Junta Boss Step Down? All Sides Now Want Him Gone.

Myanmar military is in serious trouble. Coup maker Senior General Min Aung Hlaing faces growing calls to resign—this time, not just from his opponents, but also from his allies. Internal dissent, defections and a breakdown in the chain of command. What’s next?.

Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing’s attempts to lead military and administer country in the 3-years since coup are seen as completely incompetent. If coup against him, what then? Would a coup lead to a genuine transition, or would he just be replaced by a hardline faction?.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/analys...-gone.html

On the front lines in Rakhine, Karen and Karenni (Kayah) states, troops are divided over whether to fight, remain neutral or compromise.

In recent months, many officers have quietly relocated to neighboring countries Thailand and India.
On the front lines in Rakhine, Karen and Karenni (Kayah) states, troops are divided over whether to fight, remain neutral or compromise.

In recent months, many officers have quietly relocated to neighboring countries Thailand and India
Seeing the regime’s repeated failures on several fronts, there have been growing calls from pro-regime figures for Min Aung Hlaing to step down. he is incompetent, selfish, lacks backbone, and accuse him of guiding a military once considered invincible into a state of shame and desperation.

“U Min Aung Hlaing”become their refrain, timeline refers to the coup the general led in 2021. He is in deep trouble. Will he step down? Would he allow Soe Win to take over?. Many insiders have said the two duo do not have good chemistry hugely unpopular regime has faced crises, losses at front lines, the two are rumored to have engaged in heated exchanges over losses & failures. 

Min Aung Hlaing and his family are known to be very corrupt. Soe Win is regarded as less so, though his family (on his wife’s side) is involved in construction and hotel businesses in Mandalay and Pyin Oo Lwin and mining business in Kachin State. The issue of corruption aside, there should be extensive public hearings about who ordered troops to commit war crimes over the past three years.

The growing calls for Min Aung Hlaing to resign come as the 6-month extension period of legal status of regime’s governing body, the State Administration Council (SAC), is set to expire on Jan. 31. To extend the 6-month period, regime will have to convene the National Defense & Security Council (NDSC). Acting president Myint Swe is seriously ill, but by hook or by crook, Min Aung Hlaing will do whatever it takes to convene the NDSC meeting.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/analys...-gone.html

[Tee tiong huat]

Myanmar military officers held by junta after surrendering town to opponents...not some. Six (6) were considered close to junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, said another military source who also requested anonymity.

Laukkai is the largest town seized by the alliance – made up of three armed ethnic minority groups – since it launched attacks in October.

General Min Aung Hlaing made a name for himself in 2009 when, as a regional commander, he expelled one of the alliance groups, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), from the town.

The military then installed a militia that got rich producing drugs and selling a potent cocktail of gambling and sex to visitors from across the Chinese border.

Laukkai is also notorious for online scam operations where thousands of Chinese and other foreign nationals are often trafficked and forced to work defrauding their compatriots over the Internet.

The scams anger China, a major ally and arms supplier of the junta, and Beijing has repeatedly asked the military to crack down on the billion-dollar industry.

Analysts say Beijing maintains ties with ethnic armed groups along its border and likely knew in advance about the alliance’s October offensive, which has seized swathes of territory and blocked trade crossings with China.

The military and the alliance announced in January a China-mediated ceasefire, which both sides have since accused the other of violating. AFP
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asi...-opponents

[Tee tiong huat]

Myanmar’s Wa Rebels Launch Administration in Town Seized by Brotherhood Alliance. The United Wa State Party (UWSP) has launched its own administration in Hopang, one of two towns it took over in northern Shan State earlier this month.

The UWSP is the political wing of United Wa State Army (UWSA), Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic army. It runs the Wa State People’s Government in Wa Self-Administered Division. UWSP vice chair Luo Yagu has taken the helm of a working group to “generate effective governance” in the towns, according to a UWSP announcement.

Hopang and Panlong towns were seized by the Brotherhood Alliance on Jan. 5 following the surrender of over 700 junta soldiers. The alliance – comprising Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army – then handed over the two towns to its ally, the UWSA.

Although it retains a neutral stance and denies involvement in the alliance’s Operation 1027, the USWA is widely believed to have played a huge part in the anti-regime offensive in northern Shan State.The two towns were officially handed over to the UWSP in Hopang on January 10.

UWSP said the regime had finally agreed on January 4 to hand over the two towns after years of requests by the Wa State Govt. The transfer of the two towns expands Wa Self-Administered Division east of the Salween River on the border with China. On Monday, Luo Yagu visited Hopang Town Hall for the first time to meet locals and department staff, according to locals at the meeting.

“He said there would only be their party [the UWSP, in charge],” said a local who attended the meeting.

“He told us not to buy and sell property for now. It appears that they will levy taxes later. As Luo Yagu is from Panghsang, [USWP’s] Mongmao district secretary will mainly handle the administration of the town. Though the administration has changed, things are normal.”
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/mya...iance.html

[Tee tiong huat]

ASEAN Should Back a New Myanmar
JANUARY 25, 2024 5

Recent developments in Myanmar make it vital to heed the voices of those who have been laying the groundwork for a new and inclusive federal democracy in the country.

On Jan. 28-29, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers will meet in historic Luang Prabang. 

until 1975 the capital of Laos, their host country. It will be their first meeting since Laos took over ASEAN’s rotating chairmanship from Indonesia at the beginning of the year.

Laos’ theme for the year of its chairmanship is “ASEAN: Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience”. But as is often the case when ASEAN leaders gather, other issues will loom large over the meeting, particularly the situation in the South China Sea and the crisis in Myanmar
https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/guest-...anmar.html

[Tee tiong huat]

UN: 569 Rohingya Presumed Dead at Sea Last Year. At least 569 Rohingya died or have gone missing while fleeing Bangladesh and Myanmar by boat during 2023, the highest in nearly a decade, according to the United Nations. Thousands of Rohingya each year make perilous sea journeys from crowded camps in Bangladesh and Myanmar trying to reach Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia.

Entire Military Battalions of Myanmar’s Junta Have Agreed to Defect in Karenni State: KNDF

[Tee tiong huat]

Junta No. 2 Fails to Persuade Allied Karen Armed Group to Stay With Myanmar Military. The leadership of Karen State’s Border Guard Force (BGF) appears determined to end the organization’s status as a unit of the Myanmar military despite a visit from the regime’s No. 2 leader aimed at persuading them to maintain the status quo, dealing a huge blow to the junta, which has already been weakened by a nationwide anti-regime resistance movement.

Deputy junta leader Vice Senior General Soe Win flew to Karen State on Tuesday to meet some of the BGF leadership following reports that the group’s leader Saw Chit Thu had informed the regime on Jan. 11 that his troops would be neutral in the conflict in the state and no longer answerable to the junta. BGF chairman Major General Saw Tun Hlaing Tuesday’s meeting ended in a stalemate, with BGF leaders insisting that no longer be a part of the Myanmar military and no longer accept any support—including money or supplies—from the military regime, would not side with any armed force, local news outlet the Karen Information Center (KIC).

“He [Soe Win] told us to remain as the BGF and take the salaries and supplies they provide. We replied that we no longer want to fight against our [Karen] people,” he said. Founded in 2010 under the leadership of Colonel Saw Chit Thu after breaking away from the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), itself a splinter group from the Karen National Union (KNU), the BGF in Karen State is under de-facto military control under the junta-drafted 2008 constitution.

Unlike the BGF, the state’s major ethnic armed group, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)—the armed wing of the KNU—has been fighting the regime since 2021. The BGF has been involved in the junta’s military operations against anti-junta resistance forces in Karen State near the Thai border and is behind Shwe Kokko city, an online scam and gambling hub, in Myawaddy on the border. In its coverage of Soe Win’s visit to Karen State, the junta’s state media on Wednesday said only that he met government staff and owners of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the state.Myanmar regime deputy leader Vice Senior General Soe Win / 
The Irrawaddy. Colonel Saw Chit Thu was not available for comment.

On Tuesday, sources on the border told The Irrawaddy that BGF troops on the front lines in Karen State’s Hlaingbwe Township and other areas had retreated to their bases, a sign they were no longer cooperating with the junta’s troops. A source close to the BGF said 70 percent of the group’s troops agreed it should be independent of the regime, and had refused to serve on the front lines. This followed a meeting between the BGF and regime Information Minister Maung Maung Ohn, Karen State administrator Soe Myint Oo and other officials in Hlaingbwe on Jan. 19. Thai PBS North said the meeting was held at the order of junta boss Min Aung Hlaing to discuss Saw Chit Thu’s decision to withdraw his 13 battalions from the junta’s command.

“Colonel Maung [Saw] Chit Thu informed Myanmar military government negotiators at the meeting that the BGF had already decided to stop supporting Myanmar government forces, withdrawing a total of 13 battalions, comprising Battalion 1011 through Battalion 1023,” Thai PBS reported. Residents of Hpa-an and Hlaingbwe told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that they no longer saw BFG troops standing sentry at checkpoints, which were now only manned by regime troops and police.

“The BGF troops no longer join the regime forces on patrol,” a resident said. Currently, BGF troops are still patrolling in Myawaddy town on the Thai border. BGF chairman Major General Saw Tun Hlaing told the KIC he believed the junta would not make trouble for the BGF over its decision to stop working with military. “They could guess it would be problematic for them if they trouble us. Plus, they are now struggling to protect themselves in many areas,” he added, referring fact the regime is currently fighting multiple offensives nationwide. The junta has suffered a string of defeats in the country’s northeast, northwest, southeast and south, including in Karen State, so far they lost more than 30 town across country to the resistance forces.

Analysts said losing the BGF’s support would be a huge blow for the junta as it relies on the group in Karen State, where it faces mounting armed resistance. Shortly before the coup in 2021, the Myanmar military attempted to force Saw Chit Thu and other leaders of the group to quit the BGF over their involvement in Shwe Kokko. However, it withdrew the order after the BGF leadership threatened to resign en masse.

Karen BGF leader Col. Saw Chit Thu at the force’s ninth anniversary parade in Shwe Kokko on Aug. 20, 2019. / Brian Wei / The Irrawaddy. An observer said the regime’s control of Karen State could be weakened without the BGF, as resistance forces would be emboldened to seize towns and more army bases in the state. Meanwhile, the KNLA and combined resistance forces have been attacking Kawkareik and have cut off the Kawkareik-Myawaddy section of the Asia Highway, a major route for Myanmar-Thai cross-border trade.

BGF’s split from junta comes after Thailand’s recent entreaties to the Myanmar junta to crack down scam and gambling sites in Myawaddy Township, including Shwe Kokko “new city”, a notorious hub for online gambling, cyber scams and human trafficking located just across the border from the Thai town of Mae Sot. The new city is a joint venture between the BGF and Yatai International, which is owned by She Zhijiang, a Chinese national with Cambodian citizenship who is wanted in China. The Myanmar junta is believed to be involved in scam operations there through the BGF.

Jan. 12, Min Aung Hlaing discussed issue online meeting with Thailand’s armed forces chief General Songwit Noonpackdee. They agreed to collaborate on combating online scams on the border mounting concerns Chinese-run scam syndicates will relocate to Thai-Myanmar borderafter, criminal gangs in the Kokang area. KNU pledged to work with Thailand & China to combat scam syndicates in Myawaddy.

Meanwhile, Col. Saw Chit Thu has ordered his troops to gather in Shwe Kokko & Myawaddy to prepare to defend themselves, Thai PBS North said. According to local residents, authorities in Shwe Kokko on Monday ordered shop owners, restaurants, wayside stalls and street vendors in the new city area to halt all business activities for 10 days.

YOUR…Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks. General Close to Myanmar Junta Boss Placed Under House Arrest, Interrogated for Corruption. Myanmar Junta Boss Tries to Drive Wedge Between Ethnic Armies, Civilians
Myanmar Junta.

Battle of Paletwa Loss Turns Tide Against Myanmar Junta on Western Front Continues to Suffer Defeats Month Into Operation 1027, as Military Defeats Mount. As Myanmar’s Dictator is Facing Calls to Resign From Some of His Most Ardent Supporters

Wa Rebels Launch Admin in Town Seized by Brotherhood Alliance. Military Has Turned a Strategic Town in Sagaing Region Into a ‘Graveyard’
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/jun...itary.html

[Tee tiong huat]

At Least 16 Civilians Killed in 8-Days as Junta Atrocities Continue it, atrocities including bombing and arson attacks against civilian targets across the country. Many houses & number of school buildings were destroyed, junta conducted attacks on civilian targets in Shan, Rakhine and Mon states and Bago, Magwe and Sagaing regions. The Irrawaddy has collected the following reports of junta attacks targeting civilians...

Junta aircraft bombs village in Shan despite absence, of ground clashes, there were no clashes with local ethnic armed groups, but junta fighter jet bombed Nawnghtaw Village in Hsi Hseng Township, southern Shan State on Monday killing, displaced civilian & injuring two villagers, local repoted, as more displaced folks from neighboring Karenni (Kayah) State, intense fighting between regime & ethnic resistance groups is occurring.

Many houses and some buildings in the village monastery compound were also destroyed in the airstrikes. Junta continues attacks on civilian targets in Rakhine State. At least four civilians were killed and 17 injured from Jan. 20 to 24 in Rakhine State as junta bases and gunboats continued to attack civilian targets in villages in Minbya, Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships, according to local media and the Arakan Army (AA), which is fighting the regime across the state.

Junta continues to shell civilian targets in villages in Bago, The country’s oldest ethnic revolutionary group the Karen National Union (KNU) said the Myanmar junta continued its artillery bombardment of villages in Kyaukkyi and Phyu townships in Bago Regio, killing at least three civilians and injuring many others.

Military battalions in the area used artillery rounds measuring up to 120-mm to shell around a dozen villages in the townships from Jan. 17 to 23. During the bombardments, houses were destroyed and cows belonging to residents were killed.

On Jan. 19, the junta’s Artillery Battalion 314 shelled Tat Tu Kone Village in Thaton Township, Mon State, killing four civilians and injuring six. At least six houses and two school buildings were destroyed, the KNU said.

10-month-old child, mother killed in indiscriminate junta shelling of villages in Magwe A house in Gangaw Anouk Village is heavily damaged after being bombarded by junta forces in Gangaw Township, Magwe Region on Saturday. / YAT

The Myanmar junta’s artillery base outside Gangaw town in Magwe Region used 120-mm artillery rounds to bombard nearby villages in the absence of any clashes with resistance groups on Saturday, according to local news site Yawalinntam, which monitors junta atrocities in the region.

One of the artillery shells struck Gangaw Anouk Village, killing a mother and her 10-month-old child and injuring two other villagers aged 60 and 80. Other shells hit houses in Pyar Village, destroying several of them. Around 50 shells struck nearby areas and villages. Civilians killed by junta shelling in Magwe

A father and his son were killed and a mother and daughter suffered serious injuries in Tilin Township, Magwe Region on Sunday night when regime forces and pro-regime Pyu Saw Htee militia members stationed at a public hall in Tilin town arbitrarily shelled nearby villages, according to local media and resistance groups.

One of the explosives hit the home of the family of four in Taw Young Village. Junta torches houses in village in Sagaing. The remains of a house that was torched during a junta arson attack on Yay Lal Maw Village in Wetlet Township, Sagaing Region on Wednesday. / Wetlet Information Network

At least 12 buildings, including some used to store harvested crops, and two motorbikes were destroyed by fire in Yay Lal Maw Village in Wetlet Township early Wednesday when regime forces and pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia members raided and torched the village’s civilian structures, said Wetlet Information Network, a local revolutionary news site monitoring junta atrocities.

During raid by regime forces attacking village with both firearms and heavy explosives, junta troops involved are based in pro-military village of Ywar Thayar on the opposite bank of the Irrawaddy River in Mandalay Region’s Singu Township.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/at-...tinue.html

[Tee tiong huat]

Myanmar: Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing during a rally to mark International U.N. day.

After 3 years after Myanmar’s coup, is the clock finally running out on embattled junta as it ‘slowly falls apart’?

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing’s control over country is now in doubt amid unprecedented military losses, mass surrenders & wobbling alliances, but
military is likely to ‘fight ever more brutally, closer it comes to defeat’, analysts say, ‘pace of liberation quickens’
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/...alls-apart

[Ola]

My neighbour rented the whole unit out to Mynammar people

One guy said their Govt is getting bad to worse

Too many soldiers have died and so the Govt are forcing

people to join army without training nor guns

[Tee tiong huat]

Myanmar junta arrests 1,000 Chinese nationals in Shan state. They are believed to have been involved in illegal scamming operations.
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar...60832.html

[Gemstar]

My neighbour rented the whole unit out to Mynammar people

One guy said their Govt is getting bad to worse

Too many soldiers have died and so the Govt are forcing

people to join army without training nor guns

This evil junta hv to be removed for their genocide and oppressions against unarmed civilians. The peoples struggle are very strong.

[Tee tiong huat]

My neighbour rented the whole unit out to Mynammar people

One guy said their Govt is getting bad to worse

Too many soldiers have died and so the Govt are forcing

people to join army without training nor guns

Suu Kyi’s house are been auctioned over RM700mil

COURT in military-run Myanmar has put up for auction the villa where ex-leader and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi spent 15 years under house arrest, and set starting bids at 315 billion kyats (RM706mil), source said on Thursday.  Suu Kyi, back in detention since military overthrew her govt in 2021, has been embroiled in decades long legal dispute with her brother on ownership of lakeside villa.

[Tee tiong huat]

Suu Kyi’s house are been auctioned over RM700mil

COURT in military-run Myanmar has put up for auction the villa where ex-leader and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi spent 15 years under house arrest, and set starting bids at 315 billion kyats (RM706mil), source said on Thursday.  Suu Kyi, back in detention since military overthrew her govt in 2021, has been embroiled in decades long legal dispute with her brother on ownership of lakeside villa.

The Nobel laureate was detained at the decrepit, colonial-style residence on Yangon’s Inya Lake until 2012, when she moved to the capital Naypyidaw to attend parliament after her release.

She gave impassioned speeches to crowds of supporters over the metal gates of the house and it has been the site of some of her most high-profile meetings, including with former US president Barack Obama and secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/ase...r-rm700mil

The 78yr old’s estranged brother, Aung San Oo first sued in 2000 for a share of the property, which is registered under the name of their mother, Khin Kyi.
The court ruled the siblings must share the proceeds from any sale of the house. Aung San Oo, was not immediately available for the comment.

Suu Kyi remains in detention, though her whereabouts are unknown. She currently faces 27 years in prison convictions for crimes ranging from treason and bribery to violations of the telecommunications law, allegations she denies.

World leaders and pro-democracy activists have repeatedly called for her release. — Reuters

[Tee tiong huat]

Junta. Fighting: for Myanmar’s Ruby Hub

A clash between Myanmar’s junta and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) on Thursday broke out in Myanmar’s ruby hub of Mogoke Township in Mandalay Region where the regime has been preparing for an attack. TNLA has occupied Monglon town in northern Shan State, around 32km southeast of Mogoke town, and the ruby hub is likely to be the next target for anti-regime groups.

On Thursday, regime troops in four vehicles attacked Pain Pyit village which is in TNLA Brigade 2 territory, sparking fighting with the armed group. Details about the fighting are unknown. Last week Myanmar’s military twice shelled the village, killing two residents and injuring two others. Pain Pyit village is about 11km from Mogoke town, which has been largely abandoned by residents
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-again...y-hub.html
RelatedPosts
Ethnic Pa-O Group Exits Myanmar Peace Talks, Formally Joins War Against Dictatorshi.

Junta Watch: Sinking Feeling as Myanmar Navy Faces Onslaught in Rakhine; and More

Operation 1027 Delivered Three Months of Humiliation to Myanmar’s Junta JANUARY 26, 2024.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-again...y-hub.html

[Tee tiong huat]

Asean foreign ministers back 'Myanmar-owned & led' solution to crisis. Asean foreign ministers back 'Myanmar-owned and led' solution to crisis. 

VIENTIANE (Reuters): South-East Asian foreign ministers on Monday pressed for an end to Myanmar's bloody conflict and expressed unity in their backing for a regional peace plan and a "Myanmar-owned and led solution" to the crisis. In a statement after an Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) retreat, the ministers gave support for efforts by the new special envoy on the crisis, from Laos, in "reaching out to parties concerned" and expressed confidence in his resolve to help the Myanmar people.

Myanmar junta to sends senior official to attend Asean foreign ministers’ meeting. LUANG PRABANG – Myanmar’s military junta, barred from sending political appointees to high-level Asean meetings since the 2021 coup, on Jan 29 sent a senior official to take part in the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in Laos.

Ms Marlar Than Htaik, permanent secretary of the Foreign Ministry under the control of the junta, represented Myanmar alongside Asean foreign ministers as the retreat began on Monday morning in Luang Prabang. Myanmar’s seat had been left empty at Asean leaders’ and foreign ministers’ meetings after the coup.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asi...rs-meeting

[Tee tiong huat]

Karen State, Another Myanmar Junta Chopper Shot Down, as Arakan Army seized Junta Infantry Base.

Arakan Army (AA) says it seized Light Infantry Battalion 380 headquarters in Minbya Township, Rakhine State, on Sunday. Fighting continues with junta forces in Mrauk U, Kyauktaw and Rathedaung townships, according to the AA. “The junta is no longer able to compete with us and is using more shelling and airstrikes,” said the group’s statement.

Historic Mrauk U was being shelled by Light Infantry Battalion 377 and 540 & Police Battalion 31. Saturday reportedly killed four Mrauk U Township residents and injured at least 20 people, the AA said. Junta artillery and airstrikes have been targeting Ramree Township for over a week, although no fighting been reported.

Clashes reported in Buthidaung Township on Saturday & AA said junta troops were injured. Light Infantry Battalions 232 and 344 based in Sittwe, the state capital, shelled Sittwe and Minbya townships.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/ara...eized.html

[Tee tiong huat]

• Four Asean member states continue to ignore Myanmar’s shadow govt. The recent takeover of strategic Myanmar territory by an alliance of ethnic armed groups fighting the junta under a campaign called “Operation 1027” has renewed interest in the country’s three-year-old crisis.Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG), a civilian-led body challenging the legitimacy of the military junta, says it has received more queries about the extent to which the armed groups under its command have also joined the campaign.But the NUG continues to get the cold shoulder from four out of the nine other Asean member states, says its foreign minister Zin Mar Aung. This is despite the fact that it reaches out equally to all governments in the 10-member bloc when it issues any statement.

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/four-...government

[Tee tiong huat]

KNU Renews Vow to Uproot Myanmar’s Junta

The 75th Karen Revolution Day at the Karen National Union’s (KNU) HQ in Hpa-an District, Karen State, Wednesday vowed to build a federal union & abolish Myanmar’s military dictatorship. KNU’s armed wings, Karen National Liberation Army & Karen National Defense Organization, are fighting regime in Karen, Mon, Tanintharyi & in Bago regions.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/ethnic-is...junta.html

[Tee tiong huat]

Myanmar hands over three junta-backed Chinese warlords to Beijing...

The three warlords were among 10 people taken to China for their involvement in scam ctr. Myanmar has handed over three Chinese warlords to Beijing, who were notorious for trafficking thousands of foreign nationals to forcibly run scams.

Bai Suocheng, Wei Chaoren and Liu Zhengxiang led three of four families which ruled Laukkaing on Myanmar's north-eastern border with China.

They were taken to China on a chartered flight, with seven others. This is the latest twist in the stunning downfall of the military-backed Chinese mafia in Myanmar.

And it's yet another blow for Myanmar's military regime, whose power is waning. Myanmar's army, which had been locked in a brutal stalemate since it sized power in early 2021, is now losing as it battles well-organised ethnic armies on more than one front.

General Min Aung Hlaing is known to have supported the Chinese mafia in Laukkaing. For years, China had been pressing his regime to rein in the scam centres, where people are trapped and forced to run telephone and online scams targeting victims everywhere.

To face China's Law, unease at what was happening across its border encouraged three insurgent armies to launch coordinated attacks against the military in late October last year - and it hastened the fall of the mafia families.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-68150555

[Tee tiong huat]

Home  News  War Against the Junta. Another Junta Battalion Routed in Rakhine as AA Eyes State Capital battalions have been shelling Mrauk-U Archaeological Museum, historic monasteries and other religious and cultural heritage in the township.

The ancient capital of Rakhine. AA forces completed control LIB 540 HQ at 11.45 pm Tuesday, the ethnic army said Army (AA) seized another Junta military battalion base amid an escalating offensive in Rakhine State. Myanmar’s ‘Bloodless Coup’ Has Been a 3-Year Catastrophe FEB 1, 2024.

The battalions have been shelling Mrauk-U Archaeological Museum, historic monasteries and other religious and cultural heritage in the township, the ancient capital of Rakhine. It's now targeting remaining two military bases & other junta outposts in the township. AA is a member of the Brotherhood Alliance, which includes Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA).

Since launching Operation 1027 on Oct. 27, the ethnic alliance has seized most of northern Shan State including some 20 towns & vital trade routes w/China. Alliance halted its offensive in the 2nd week of January after agreeing to China-brokered ceasefire deal with military regime. However, AA has conducted large-scale offensive across northern Rakhine and Paletwa in neighboring Chin State since Nov. 13, as part of Operation 1027.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-again...pital.html

[Tee tiong huat]

Blood and sweat’: Myanmar resistance fights to overturn military coup. Three years after the generals’ power grab, anti-coup fighters say they want them out of Myanmar’s politics.

February 1, 2021, a military coup in Myanmar sparked widespread nonviolent protests that quickly turned into an armed uprising after the military responded with brutal force.

Ethnic armed organisations fighting for autonomy along the country’s borders also joined the anti-coup groups in a war, which has since reached an unprecedented scale in Myanmar’s history.

Resistance forces share not only a common enemy but also a desire to overturn Myanmar’s military-dominated political system and establish a federal democracy that grants the right to self-determination for its ethnic minorities.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/1/...itary-coup