Martin Griffiths’ ‘breakthrough’ on Rakhine obscures the fact that no global aid is getting to resistance strongholds and only serves the junta’s propaganda.

At least 16 people were detained in Mandalay from August 9 to 15 after pro-Myanmar-junta Telegram channels shared their photos and addresses. Among those detained were doctors and teachers who joined the civil disobedience movement (CDM), philanthropists, business owners and a betel nut vendor. Ko Zin Min Aung, a store owner in Chanayethazan Township, was detained on August 15 for Facebook posts in 2021 and 2022. A female doctor who has joined the CDM was seized in the same township. On August 14, a young man from Maha Aung Myay Township was abducted for allegedly having undergone resistance training. A CDM teacher, Ko Nan Zeyar Oo, was detained in Chanayethazan Township for allegedly criticizing the regime and its leader Min Aung Hlaing on TikTok. A betel nut vendor in Chanmyathazi Township was arrested on August 13 for allegedly complaining on TikTok about inflation under the regime. Junta troops raided a stationery shop in Chanayethazan Township the same day, detaining the store owner, her two daughters and a relative, sealing off their house and shop. The arrest came after the «Han Nyein Oo» Telegram channel called for the arrest of store owner Daw Myint Myint Than, alleging that she had criticized the regime online. A Mandalay resident said: «She was apparently arrested for commenting on a news agency story. There is no freedom left.» A woman from Chanmyathazi Township was detained on August 12 after a Telegram channel called for her arrest, saying she had criticized the junta leader on TikTok. Junta troops raided a tea shop in Aungmyaythazan Township and a pub in Chanmyathazi Township on August 9 and 10 respectively, detaining six men. Junta troops put bags on their heads and beat them during the arrests, according to residents. A Mandalay-based gem merchant: «The regime has been forced to rely on airstrikes after it was hit hard in ground fighting. It makes arrests in broad daylight to boost the morale of its supporters and to instill fear in residents.» Ma Shwe Mahar Nwe, also known as Ma Nwe New Win, who leads the Shwe Mahar Nwe blood donors association and Mandalay's branch of the Myanmar Rescue Federation, was arrested on August 9 after the «Han Nyein Oo» Telegram channel called for her arrest, alleging she marked the 35th anniversary of the pro-democracy 8888 uprising. The channel posted a photo of Ma Shwe Mahar Nwe blindfolded inside a private vehicle. A member of the Shwe Mahar Nwe charity said: «The Han Nyein Oo account shared a photo of a woman with a blurred face. It was not our chair. We heard about the arrest from the Han Nyein Oo account. Another person was arrested without verifying the photo.» Ma Shwe Mahar Nwe was arrested in November 2021 as her association sought donations of clothes for displacement camps and orphanages. After she posted on Facebook that people could also donate camouflage clothing, troops seized her. She was then charged with sedition and handed three years in jail. After nearly two years she was released conditionally on May 3 in the Kasone Full Moon amnesty. She was re-arrested two months later. Her whereabouts are unknown. A Mandalay-based journalist said: «We have seen an increase in such arrests triggered by Telegram channels. Victims are normally arrested hours after the Han Nyein Oo account calls for their arrest. Recently, masked junta troops raided a tea shop and pub. This is worse than previous military dictatorships.» RO Telegram Monitoring, a group monitoring pro-junta Telegram channels, said they endanger civilians and lead to arrests and the seizure of property. Around 19 prominent pro-junta Telegram channels share information about dissidents and approximately 50 other channels spread their information, according to RO Telegram. U Nay Phone Latt, a spokesman for the civilian National Unity Government, said: «Those Telegram channels are not run by individuals. They are part of a network linked with military intelligence. We have been trying to reveal the entire network.» The channels share information about people who criticize military rule on social media, mark pro-democracy events and participate in anti-junta activities including protests and strikes. In an interview with The Irrawaddy in February, Ma Wai Phyo Myint, the head of Access Now in Myanmar, an advocacy group for digital rights around the world, said Telegram has ignored requests from civil society organizations to stop the abuse of the platform in Myanmar.

Myanmar junta troops brutally killed six residents of Yinmabin and Pale townships in Sagaing Region and dumped their corpses under the North Yamar bridge on Wednesday, according to locals. Regime troops detained the victims on August 10 as they traveled from Pale to Yinmabin. U Phoe Nyan, 48, U Thein Ngwe, 44, Ko Zaw Myint Htay, 34 and Ko Zaw Myo Khaing, 22, were residents of Yinmabin's Lae Naguk village. Their corpses were retrieved from the North Yamar creek. All four were farmers who had been arrested as they entered the village to feed their cows, according to the Yinmabin information group. “Their throats have been cut and they have multiple wounds all over the body. The victims were killed and then thrown into the water,” a spokesperson for Sagaing people's support group told The Irrawaddy. The two other victims were U Win Zaw Oo, 45, and Ko Kyaw Myo Win, 38, both from Pale Township. A military lobbyist alleged that all six victims had been members of the People’s Defense Force, but locals denied this. The villagers were arrested and killed by regime troops stationed in the compound of Chinese mining company Wanbao, according to the Yinmabin information group. The Irrawaddy was unable to independently verify this information. Troops based at the mine have been raiding and shelling surrounding villages frequently. On Monday, a nine-year-old child was killed and five villagers wounded when troops protecting the mine shelled villages in neighboring Yinmabin Township. The attacks also forced around 7,000 residents from five villages to flee their homes.

Seventeen of the 31 political prisoners in Bago Region’s Tharyarwaddy Prison who were placed in solitary confinement after they marked Martyrs’ Day in July remain in solitary confinement, the Myanmar Political Prisoners Network said. Sixteen male prisoners and 15 female prisoners were placed in solitary confinement for allegedly organizing activities to mark Martyrs’ Day on July 19. Fourteen women were returned to their cells on August 13, but 16 men, and one woman—Shun Ei Phyu—remain in solitary confinement, said Ko Thaik Tun Oo, a representative of the Myanmar Political Prisoners Network. The prisoners are serving sentences ranging from three years to life imprisonment. The women prisoners range in age from their 20s to their 50s. Ko Thaik Tun Oo said rumors that two of the 31 political prisoners died from torture were false. “All those who were placed under solitary confinement are in good health. None of them has died. The two who died are other prisoners who died from disease. One of them was a political prisoner who was transferred from Insein Prison in Yangon,” he explained. The political prisoners who marked Martyrs’ Day were also tortured. Ko Than Toe Aung from the National League for Democracy’s chapter in Yangon’s Thanlyin Township sustained a life-threatening brain injury after being beaten, a source close to the prison’s staff said. He was arrested in 2021 in Thanlyin, and charged with incitement and illegal possession of explosives. He was given a six-year sentence and transferred from Insein Prison to Tharyarwaddy Prison last year. Another was U Hla Soe from Tharyarwaddy Township who was sentenced to 20 years on terrorism charges. A total of 254 prisoners were set free from Tharyarwaddy Prison under the junta’s latest amnesty on August 1, but only a few of them were political prisoners, according to activists assisting political prisoners. Tharyarwaddy Prison holds about 2,000 political prisoners. It is notorious for assaults on and torture of political prisoners, former prisoners say.

Junta decision-making has been driven by three characteristics since the coup: unpredictability, obstinacy, and insincerity.

A nine-year-old child was killed and five villagers wounded when junta troops protecting a Chinese-owned mine unleashed artillery barrages in Salingyi Township, Sagaing Region on Monday, according to residents. [caption id=«attachment_127413» align=«aligncenter» width=«1080»] The body of a child killed by a junta artillery attack on Pay Kone village, Yinmabin Township, Sagaing Region./Yinmabin Information Group[/caption] A regime column comprising over 100 soldiers raided and shelled villages along the Pathein-Monywa road while protecting a convoy that was transporting chemicals for the mine. Around 7,000 residents from five villages were forced to flee the attacks by junta troops, who also detained seven residents. The troops were stationed in Salingyi’s Don Taw village, from where they shelled surrounding villages. One shell hit a house in Pay Kone village in neighboring Yinmabin Township where around 10 civilians were seeking refuge, said the head of the Yinmabin-Salingyi multi-village strike steering committee, Ko Lwan Thu. Kyaw Thiha, 9, a resident of Pay Kone village was killed on the spot and three women and two men were wounded by the blast. “Kyaw Thiha’s father was also injured but his condition is not critical. My two relatives who were seeking refuge in the house were injured. All those injured are being treated in hospital,” Ko Lwan Thu told the Irrawaddy. Residents from the five villages have sought refuge at relatives ' houses in other villages. Salingyi’s three copper mines – Letpadaung, Sabetaung and Kyesintaung – are owned and operated by Chinese company Wanbao and its two subsidiaries, Myanmar Wanbao Mining Copper Ltd and Myanmar Yang Tse Copper Ltd, in partnership with the military-owned Myanma Economic Holdings Ltd. Even before the 2021 coup, the mines had long been a source of public fury for destroying the environment and seizing people’s land. A total of 17 local strike bodies in Monywa, Salingyi and Yinmarbin townships have called on Chinese mining firms Wanbao and Yang Tse to halt their collaboration with the Myanmar junta, which is committing atrocities and destroying civilian life and property across the region. Sagaing People Support Network, a regional aid group, said that around 20 residents have been killed by junta troops from mining companies during raids. Ko Lwan Thu said the number of residents killed since the coup may be higher. On Tuesday, the bodies of three residents were found under the North Yamar bridge in Yinmabin Township, he said. Two of the victims were identified as men in their 40s from Lae Ngauk village who were arrested by regime troops this month. “The identity of the other person has yet to be confirmed,” Ko Lwan Thu told the Irrawaddy.

Central bank’s efforts to stabilize exchange rates are backfiring and hyperinflation is next, economist warns.

Junta’s economic ineptness, lack of electricity and instability driving foreign investment away, economists say.

A jailed doctor was killed and another political prisoner critically injured when a Myanmar junta convoy reportedly hit two mines during a transfer from Monywa Prison on Tuesday. More than 100 political prisoners were being taken from Monywa to Myingyan and Obo prisons in five trucks on Tuesday when their trucks hit a mine on the Mandalay-Monywa highway. The ethnic Kachin, Dr Zaw Htwal Aung, was killed. Another political prisoner, Ko Arkar Nyein Chan, from Budalin who was chained to the doctor's leg, is in a critical condition, according to a member of the Monywa People Strike Committee, citing family members. «We are sad about the loss. No matter which group did, it shouldn't have happened. The junta unjustly detained the political prisoners so it is responsible,» said the member. He said the truck driver was killed. Dr Zaw Htwal Aung's family was trying to retrieve his body, the member added. Dr Zaw Htwal Aung participated in the civil disobedience movement following the 2021 coup and was arrested in September 2021 for treating wounded anti-regime protesters and displaced civilians in Sagaing Region. The Political Prisoner Network in Myanmar said two landmines hit three trucks. Some reports said three political prisoners and a driver were killed and more than 12 were injured. The network said it was trying to confirm the reports. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Monywa Prison is notorious for its ill-treatment of political prisoners who were arrested following the coup and it often transfers prisoners to far away prisons.

Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has imposed entrance and other fees on the colossal Buddha statute he had built in Naypyitaw, prompting criticism and mockery even from regime sympathizers in a country where paying homage to Buddha has always been free for its citizens. The Buddha statue called “Maravijaya” has become the first pagoda in the Buddhist-majority country where citizens are charged to make a pilgrimage. The entrance fee is just 1,000 kyats (the market exchange rate is about 3,600 kyats per US dollar) for both adults and children, but there are a host of additional fees. The fee to take photos with a smartphone camera is 5,000 kyats. The fee rises tenfold to 50,000 kyats for those using professional cameras and they have to pay 5,000 kyats for every additional 30 minutes of taking photos after their initial time limit is over. The parking fee is 20,000 kyats. [caption id=«attachment_127436» align=«aligncenter» width=«1600»] Min Aung Hlaing (front, right) during the opening ceremony of Maravijaya Buddha statue in Naypyidaw on August 1. / Myawady[/caption] A visitor arriving by car who takes photos with a phone will have to pay 26,000 kyats, more than five times the daily minimum wage in Myanmar—4,800 kyats for an eight-hour shift. The admission fee for a foreign national to visit Myanmar’s most famous pilgrimage site, Shwedagon Pagoda, is just 10,000 kyats, but the entry fee for foreign nationals at Maravijaya is US$ 10. Aung Paing Min, a staunch supporter of the military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party and close associate of former president Thein Sein, wrote on his Facebook page: “The fee is so high as it is 50,000 kyats plus 5,000 kyats for every 30 minutes for professional DSLR/Camcorders. But it is quite gross to charge 5,000 kyats for a phone camera. Please fix it, Phayar Dagar Gyi [a title used to address someone who has pagodas built]. I am also meant to pay 5,000 kyats for the phone.” The statue was consecrated on August 1, and entry was free from August 8 to 17. With the announcement of admission fees, the regime extended the free-entry period until August 19. It will start collecting admission fees on August 20, saying the money will be used for maintenance of the statue. Han Nyein Oo, a notorious junta lobbyist known for sharing the addresses of dissidents online and inciting their arrests, wrote: “How nice it would be if [pilgrims] were allowed to visit and pay homage for free without needing to pay an admission fee. Phayar Dagar Gyi will definitely gain greater merit.” A satirical cartoon reads “Yasodhara, bring 1,000 kyats if you want to see Buddha. It is 2,000 kyats if you bring Rahula along.” Yasodhara was the wife of Prince Siddhartha before he attained enlightenment, and Rahula was their son. “Maravijaya” means conquering Mara, which is equivalent to Satan in Buddhism. The statue's attributes are closely connected with the number nine, which is considered auspicious in Burmese numerology, and is a talisman of Myanmar generals. The image's combined weight of 5,292 tons has numerological significance, as the individual digits can add up to two nines, while the throne's height of 18 feet (nine doubled) and the statue's height of 63 feet also adds up to the number nine. The statue is surrounded by 720 stone stupas. [caption id=«attachment_127435» align=«aligncenter» width=«695»] The cartoon satirizing fees to pay homage to the statue shows a monk telling Yasodhara to bring 1,000 kyats if she wants to see Buddha, and 2,000 kyats if she wants to bring Rahula.[/caption] The Buddha statue was carved out of a marble block donated by former military dictator Than Shwe. Current and former generals, including former military spy chief Khin Nyunt, made donations for construction of the Buddha statue. A few weeks before the consecration of the statue, many old and new cronies contributed around 40 billion kyats to its construction. While it is not clear how the regime will use those billions of kyats, it is attempting to squeeze money out of pilgrims who are suffering from economic turmoil, critics say. Another military supporter, Kyi Win, wrote on his Facebook page: “Everyone has a phone today, and the fee is 5,000 kyats for phone [photos]. The site is [far] and only accessible by car, and the fee is 20,000 kyats for a vehicle. I only have only word. It is extremely gross.”

Myanmar under the military regime won’t take its turn holding the rotating chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2026 due to the ongoing internal military conflict and humanitarian crisis sparked by the military coup in 2021. Citing diplomatic sources with ties to the regional bloc, both Thai PBS and Nikkei Asia reported that the chair will be held by the Philippines during that year, with Myanmar now scheduled to assume the role the following year. As the regime has so far been silent on the issue, it was unclear whether Naypyitaw or ASEAN initiated the move. The chair is currently held by Indonesia, which will be succeeded by Laos next year and Malaysia in 2025. Relations between the country’s ruling generals and the regional grouping turned sour following the coup and the generals’ failure to honor the bloc’s peace plan for the country. As a result, in an unprecedented move, the bloc has banned the regime’s leadership from its summits since late 2021. Since the coup, the regime has faced widespread armed resistance across the country. It is still struggling to assert control in many areas despite its heavy-handed response to the resistance, which has included air strikes. At the same time, Naypyitaw is struggling to cope with a myriad of economic and social problems. Last month, the junta extended emergency rule in the country for another six months, citing instability. It has not been able to set a date for an election it has promised. It would not be the first time Myanmar has skipped the ASEAN chairmanship since joining the bloc in 1997 while under the previous military dictatorship. Its chairmanship was postponed in 2006 due to domestic problems. It assumed the chairmanship for the first time in 2014 during a period of quasi-civilian rule. The ASEAN Charter stipulates that the bloc’s chairmanship shall rotate annually, based on the alphabetical order of the English names of member states. The holder of the rotating chair organizes the ASEAN Summit and related summits, the ASEAN Coordinating Council, the three ASEAN Community Councils, relevant ASEAN Sectoral Ministerial Bodies and the Committee of Permanent Representatives. The ASEAN chair’s diplomatic responsibilities, which include hosting the East Asia Summit and other meetings attended by countries from beyond the region including the US, China and Japan, have raised fears that a Myanmar chairmanship could lead to diplomatic incidents and exacerbate global tensions.

Another 14 people remain missing after the disaster at an unregulated mine outside northern Kachin's Hpakant Township.

At least 11 Myanmar junta troops were killed and two arrested in the last three days as People’s Defense Force groups (PDFs) and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) continued to attack regime targets across the country. In one case, five ethnic Chin resistance fighters were killed during a raid on a military headquarters in Chin. Incidents were reported in Karen and Chin states and Sagaing, Magwe and Tanintharyi regions. The Irrawaddy has collected the following reports of significant attacks from the PDFs and EAOs. Some military casualties could not be independently verified. Heavy clash erupts in Karen [caption id=«attachment_127385» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] Karen resistance forces are seen along with military weapons and ammunition at the junta strategic base on Lat Khat Taung mountain in Myawaddy Township on July 21. / Cobra Column[/caption] A heavy clash broke out in Myawaddy Township, Karen State on Tuesday when junta forces attempted to take back a strategic base on Lat Khat Taung mountain held by PDFs and Karen rebel groups. The junta used aircraft, tanks and artillery units, according to the resistance group Cobra Column. Casualties on both sides were unknown. Resistance groups led by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the country’s oldest ethnic rebel group, the Karen National Union (KNU), attacked and seized the junta base on the mountain on July 21. Since then, at least 10 clashes have broken out in the area as junta troops try to retake the base, leaving 17 soldiers dead, said the KNU’s Dooplaya District. Military headquarters raided in Chin [caption id=«attachment_127386» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] Soldiers seized by Chin resistance groups during a raid on a military headquarters in Thantlang town on Monday. / Khonuthung Burmese[/caption] Ethnic revolutionary group the Chin National Front (CNF) said its armed wing the Chin National Army (CNA) and other Chin Defense Forces jointly raided the headquarters of military Infantry Battalion 269 based in Thantlang town, Chin State on Monday. During the raid, the combined groups seized a junta security outpost as well as two soldiers and six weapons. Five resistance members were killed. After the clash, the junta bombed its own resistance-held outpost and also bombed two villages outside the town in retaliation, destroying houses and injuring civilians, said the CNF. Junta troops killed in resistance ambush in Tanintharyi  Resistance groups engage in a clash with regime forces in Ya Ngal Village in Thayet Chaung Township on Monday. / Dawei Information Center Five regime soldiers were killed and two others injured in Thayet Chaung Township, Tanintharyi Region on Monday when local resistance groups attacked regime forces in two vehicles from two locations as they entered Ya Ngal Village, said Dawei Information Center, a local revolutionary media outlet. Regime forces killed in resistance drone strikes in Sagaing [caption id=«attachment_127387» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] Troops of Ghost Team Ranger (Myinmu) are seen during a recent drone strike mission against regime targets in Myinmu Township. / TGR (Myinmu)[/caption] At least three junta troops were killed and many others injured in Myinmu Township, Sagaing Region as resistance groups conducted drone strikes on regime targets on Monday and Tuesday, according to Ghost Team Ranger (Myinmu), which coordinated the attacks. The resistance group said it and two other rebel groups dropped bombs on a military unit near Wan Pyae Village while it was traveling after killing four civilians and torching houses in Ywar Thar Lay Village. Three soldiers were killed in the drone strikes. The resistance groups continued to conduct drone strikes against a police station in Taw Chaung-U Village in the township, dropping 11 bombs. The regime forces responded with both heavy explosives and firearms. Some junta troops are believed to have been injured in the drone attacks, the resistance group said. On Tuesday, the same resistance groups used drones to drop eight bombs on regime patrols deployed on the Monywa-Mandalay highway to protect a military convoy. Injured soldiers were taken away in vehicles. Military convoys bombed in Sagaing  A blast occurs as resistance groups trigger a mine to ambush a military convoy in Myinmu Township on Monday. / Moe Nyo Revolution Black Eagle Defense Force (Myinmu) said it and another resistance group used land mines to ambush a military convoy of 16 vehicles in four locations in Myinmu Township, Sagaing Region on Monday while it was traveling from Sagaing to Monywa. The next day, the resistance groups used land mines to ambush another military convoy of five logistics vehicles. In the series of attacks, five regime vehicles were damaged. The convoys also faced mine ambushes by other resistance groups. Regime bases bombed in Sagaing [caption id=«attachment_127388» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] Improvised drone bombs produced by Salingyi Special Task Force / SSTF[/caption] Salingyi Special Task Force (SSTF) said it and other resistance groups used makeshift remote-controlled airplanes to bomb police stations and junta bases in Monywa Township, Sagaing Region on Monday and Tuesday. Military casualties were unknown. Military flotilla attacked in Sagaing  Combined resistance forces ambush a military flotilla in Salingyi Township on Tuesday. / Hero Fighter (Salingyi) Hero Fighter (Salingyi) said it and many other resistance groups jointly ambushed a military flotilla of four barges and a gunboat on the Chindwin River in Salingyi Township, Sagaing Region on Tuesday. The flotilla was transporting around 100 junta troops as well as rations and ammunition from Magwe Region’s Yesagyo Township to Sagaing’s Monywa Township. Some regime forces are thought to have been injured or killed in the clash, the resistance group said. Pro-junta militias bombed in Sagaing  Resistance forces conduct drone strikes on regime forces torching houses in a village in Myinmu Township in July. / Unicorn Guerrilla Force The resistance group Unicorn Guerrilla Force said it used a drone to drop seven bombs on pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militias and their bases in the pro-regime village of Mar Lal Taw in Sagaing Township, Sagaing Region on Tuesday. Militia casualties were unknown. The aerial video shows a drone dropping bombs on militia targets. Military unit ambushed in Magwe  Resistance fighters of Yesagyo PDF ambush regime forces in Yesagyo Township on Monday. / Yesagyo PDF Three junta soldiers were killed and some injured in Yesagyo Township, Magwe Region on Monday when two resistance groups ambushed an advance team of eight soldiers from a military unit between two villages, said Yesagyo Township PDF, which coordinated the attack. On Sunday, Yesagyo PDF triggered a cluster of 12 land mines to ambush 30 regime forces that arbitrarily killed a detained villager in the township. Seven junta forces suffered serious injuries.

The 127 men and 18 women were arrested on Friday near the village of Waekhami in southern Mon State on suspicion of violating immigration laws.

A disabled man was shot in the head, three other people were killed, and six more were wounded during three days of ground assaults and airstrikes in Wetlet Township, as the junta’s atrocities continue to mount in north-western Sagaing Region, residents said. On Saturday, about 100 junta troops from Sagaing Township raided Wetlet’s Pae Ta Gyi Village. “A disabled man in Pae Ta Gyi village died after being shot in the head,” a resident of the village said. A 50-year-old man also died from a heart attack during the raid, residents said. Two more people were shot dead during a raid of nearby Htan Gyi Village, residents said. “The same troops also raided Ta Laing Village in Sagaing Township on Thursday,” a resident of Wetlet told The Irrawaddy. On Sunday, two residents of Htone Bo Kone Village in eastern Wetlet Township—a 10-year-old girl and a 60-year-old woman—were wounded by junta shelling. Htone Bo Kone village is about 14 kilometers from Pae Tha Gyi village, which is in southern Wetlet Township. On Monday, four residents of the township’s Pauk Kan village—three men and one woman—were injured when two fighter jets strafed the village, residents said. A resident of the village told The Irrawaddy that the two fighter jets began strafing the village in the evening and that the attack had not been precipitated by a clash with resistance fighters in the anti-regime stronghold. The source said that the four people wounded did not sustain serious physical injuries. Residents of the three villages have returned after fleeing the raids, sources said. Wetlet Township was raided by the regime troops by both ground and river routes over the weekend. Around 50 houses in the township’s Ngar Bat Chaung Village were torched by regime who arrived by river on Saturday. Seven civilians were shot dead during a predawn raid of a village in the west of the township in early July. Further west, three teens were stabbed to death and had their tongues cut out during another predawn raid on July 25 on an office of the All Burma Federation of Student Union in Budalin Township. The junta has lost control over most of the Sagaing Region—a resistance stronghold—but is escalating efforts to hang on to its southern and western tips. These efforts include an escalation of war crimes.

Nearly 400 villages in seven townships have been inundated by flooding following several days of heavy rainfall and at least six people have been killed by flooding, according to an announcement from the Arakan Army, the ethnic Rakhine armed organization that controls some parts of the western state. The army said that Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Myebon, Minbya, Taungup, Thandwe were the most flooded townships in the state. The flooding is occurring while most communities in the state are still reeling from the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha, which ripped through the state in May, the announcement said. The flooding has destroyed more homes, buildings and farmland. Livestock in the agriculture-dependent state have also been swept away by flooding, the announcement said. The Arakan Army called on ASEAN and international organizations to provide emergency aid, including food and medicine, as soon as possible to the communities inundated by flooding while still recovering from the cyclone. Local volunteer groups said at least 4,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from two camps were evacuated in Kyuaktaw and Mrauk-U townships last week. Residents of Myatasuang IDP camp in Mrauk-U Township said their houses were either partially or completely destroyed by flooding. “We need urgent help to rebuild at least 40 houses in the camp that were swept away by the floodwater,” the abbot in Myatasaung said. The temporary camp was built in 2008 and almost all of its makeshift houses were severely damaged by Cyclone Mocha in May. A representative from the Myitta Yaungchi Foundation, a local volunteer group, said the foundation had donated food and drinking water in Nyaung Chaung IDP camp and Na Ga Yar village in Kyauktaw Township. “Water has receded in many areas, but people still need humanitarian aid as their houses, barns and crops were destroyed by the flood,” the representative said. At least 3,105 people were evacuated from Nyaung Chaung IPD camp after flooding submerged their makeshift homes, local volunteer groups said. Another volunteer group donated drinking water in Tha Yet Oke and Na Gar Yar villages in Kyauktaw Township as ponds used to collect drinking water had been inundated by floodwater. “We still can’t reach other villages in the west of Kyauktaw Township as we have to go there by boat,” a volunteer in the township said. Many villages in the township are in dire need of food supplies and water, the volunteer said. “We could not help all villages due to limited funding.  We need more donations to help people in flood-affected areas,” he said. Since June 2023, the regime has prevented the United Nations and other international organizations from delivering urgent humanitarian assistance in Rakhine State, hindering the rehabilitation process after Cyclone Mocha. “Some people could not even rebuild their homes after Cyclone Mocha. We are struggling with many difficulties. I would like to ask for humanitarian aid from international organizations if possible,” a resident from Kyauktaw said. Cyclone Mocha hit western Myanmar on May 14, killing more than 100 people, destroying or damaging an estimated 200,000 buildings, bringing down utility poles and blocking communications in Rakhine State.

Almost 20 junta soldiers including two captains have been killed and 34 others wounded while attempting to recapture a strategic hilltop base  seized last month by resistance fighters near the Thai-Myanmar border, according to the Karen National Union (KNU). The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), an armed wing of the KNU, and resistance allies attacked the junta’s Lat Khat Taung hill camp in Myawaddy township, Karen State on July 21 and seized a large cache of weapons, ammunition and communication devices. Junta troops of Light Infantry Division 44 have responded by calling up reinforcements to launch daily  offensives to retake the hill camp. Ten intense clashes have erupted so far between junta forces and the KNLA and allied resistance groups defending the hilltop fortress. The Cobra Column, a KNLA ally that was involved in seizing the hill camp, said on Monday that junta troops had suffered heavy casualties but been unable even to get close to the foot of the hill. [caption id=«attachment_127350» align=«aligncenter» width=«1600»] Weapons and ammunition seized in the battle for the strategic Lat Khat Taung base. (Photo: KNU)[/caption] Reports on the ground indicate that 17 junta soldiers including two captains have been killed and 34 wounded, the KNU said. One KNLA member was killed and eight resistance fighters injured during the battles. The clashes also killed one civilian and wounded another, while five religious building were damaged due to exchanges of fire between the two sides. Two junta soldiers also defected to the resistance during the battle. On August 8, Lance Corporal Zaw Myo Khaing, 36, and Private Aung Myo Zaw, 23, of Light Infantry Division 44 defected to the Cobra Column. Cobra Column commander Bo Da Baw rewarded each soldier with 50,000 baht for defecting with weapons, including a 60mm mortar and an MA-2 rifle and magazines.

Shwe Byain Phyu Oil and Gas Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Shwe Byain Phyu (SBP) Group of Companies – the major supplier of fuel to the Myanmar military – was liquidated on August 10 under Myanmar’s Insolvency Law. Owned by crony Thein Win Zaw, SBP has interests in gas stations, gem mining, telecoms and logging. It is one of the regime’s top taxpayers. Only one junta mouthpiece, Myawady Daily, reported on the liquidation of Shwe Byain Phyu Oil & Gas. Other military-controlled media were mute. Shwe Byain Phyu Oil & Gas was a member of the Myanmar Petroleum Trade Association. It cooperated with military-owned Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd and notorious crony and arms-broker Tay Za, according to advocacy group Justice for Myanmar. Many of the businesses Thein Win Zaw has shares in have been hit by sanctions imposed by European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States. [caption id=«attachment_127357» align=«aligncenter» width=«1762»] Thein Win Zaw / Justice For Myanmar[/caption] The parallel National Unity Government has also backlisted SBP for supporting violence and war crimes. Some observers have suggested that Shwe Byain Phyu Oil & Gas was liquidated to avoid further sanctions, and that it may resume operations under another name. The liquidation followed Washington’s sanctions on two junta-controlled banks that conduct international transactions, and Singapore’s UOB Bank announcement that it would shut junta-linked bank accounts. SBP was established in 1996 while Myanmar was under the rule of former military dictator Than Shwe. The company operates in partnership with the military-owned Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd in mining, and the import and distribution of fuel. Thein Win Zaw allegedly amassed a fortune from the large-scale smuggling of fuel by sea via southern Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region and Mon State, and has close links with the successive leaders of the Myanmar Navy. Following the appointment of former Navy chief Tin Aung San as transport and communications minister in Min Aung Hlaing’s regime, Thein Win Zaw bought the Myanmar subsidiary of Norwegian telecoms giant Telenor a Lebanese investment company. Thein Win Zaw is also a director of the Mahar Yoma Public Company, part of a consortium that has a stake in the military-owned telecom operator Mytel. The 60-year-old crony often visits the residence of junta boss Min Aung Hlaing. SBP also operates jade mines in partnership with state-owned Myanma Gems Enterprise and is the major supplier of fuel to the junta’s military. Thein Win Zaw donated 10 million kyats (US$ 4,745) when jailed civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had a pagoda built in 2019 in Naypyitaw. But the crony was far more generous to dictator Min Aung Hlaing, donating over 560 million kyats (US$ 265,760) to his Maravijaya Buddha statue.

Myanmar's regime is compiling lists of government employees in southern Shan State to form so-called people's militias. The order from Shan State's security and border affairs minister Colonel Sein Win called for lists, excluding police officers, in Taunggyi and Kalaw districts and Pa-O and Danu self-administered zones by August 17. The order says civil servants, including health and educational staff, will be used as auxiliary forces under the military's Eastern Command with tasks allocated according to the size of the militia battalion. A junta source, who asked not to be named, said: «The military has suffered heavy casualties in southern Shan State and Kayah State. It has been significantly depleted so it is planning to include government employees in militias.» A military defector said: «The military has been hit by casualties and it can hardly find recruits. But I don't think arming civil servants will work. I guess it can only be formed on paper and can be implemented only when employees are willing.» Since the 2021 coup, Myanmar's military has been hit hard by desertions and heavy casualties in daily clashes with resistance forces across the country. The regime has conscripted thieves and other minor criminals but many allegedly fled during training.

Myanmar junta's new defense minister, Tin Aung San, is in Moscow attending Russia's military-technical forum and the 11th Moscow Conference on International Security. Around 60 countries are participating in the events and about 1,500 Russian companies are presenting military hardware. Faced with international sanctions, Myanmar's regime has deepened bilateral cooperation with Moscow. Russia is Myanmar's largest arms supplier since the coup, United Nations special rapporteur for Myanmar Tom Andrews said in his report, «The Billion Dollar Death Trade: International Arms Networks that Enable Human Rights Violations in Myanmar.» Myanmar's regime has imported at least US$1 billion worth of weapons and related material since the 2021 coup, of which more than $400 million, mostly for fighter jets, was imported from Russia. Aircraft are vital for the regime whose ground troops cannot defeat resistance forces. Deadly airstrikes are repeatedly carried out against civilians. The regime has purchased Russian aircraft spare parts, reconnaissance drones, air-to-ground missiles and military trucks. Moscow is using Myanmar military-produced 120mm mortar rounds in its war in Ukraine, according to Belgium-based Army Recognition. Tin Aung San and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu on Monday attended the unveiling ceremony of a Myanmar monument in Patriot Park in the Kubinka area of Moscow. The monument is dedicated to those who died fighting the Japanese during World War II. The two discussed military-technical cooperation at the ceremony. Last year, Min Aung Hlaing conferred honorary titles on Shoigu, his deputy Colonel General Alexander Fomin, and another Russian military commander.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), an insurgent group active on the border with Bangladesh in Rakhine State, abducted two Muslims in Maungdaw Township, western Myanmar, on Saturday. The abductees, reportedly in their 30s, are prawn farmers from Sabel Gon village. They were abducted by approximately 20 ARSA troops while driving from Sabel Gon to Kyein Chaung village on Saturday evening, according to a Kyein Chaung villager. ARSA members set fire to their vehicle, he said. «They pulled their car and some motorcyclists over, dragged the two men out and torched the vehicle. They told the motorcyclists in Burmese that they would not harm them and they could proceed,» the villager told The Irrawaddy. The junta-controlled newspaper Myanma Alin reported that the rival Rohingya Solidarity Organization was responsible. A Maungdaw town resident said: «We all know that ARSA abducted the men. Muslim villagers said that it was ARSA that abducted them. We guess the abduction was motivated by money. Maybe they refused to pay extortion money.» Villagers said the two abductees were taken into the Mayu mountains and junta forces have not looked for them. On July 19, the largely Buddhist Arakan Army and ARSA clashed in the Mayu mountains between two Muslim villages in Buthidaung. Both sides reportedly suffered casualties.

Analysts say junta's economic mismanagement is fuelling surge in prices of household goods.

A look at how the military junta utilizes criminal businesses to its advantage. 

Intense clashes continue to rage in Myanmar’s smallest state, Kayah, after the junta sent in heavy reinforcements in an effort to gain control over the resistance stronghold last month, according to local resistance sources. The junta also conducted air strikes on both civilian targets and conflict zones for four consecutive days between Aug. 10 and 13, according to the Karenni Human Rights Group (KnHRG). “A church and three houses were damaged by junta air strikes in Htee Thaw Ku Village on Saturday. They also conducted air strikes in Shadaw Township near the border between Myanmar and Thailand yesterday,” a representative of the aid group said. No civilian casualties were reported, according to the group. Clashes have rocked Loikaw, Demoso and Hpruso townships since early August when three columns of junta forces began advancing along Pyidaungsu Road between Demoso and Hprsuso townships. On Sunday, combined resistance forces of the Karenni Army (KA) and the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) seized a large quantity of weapons and ammunition after ambushing junta troops stationed in Htee Thaw Ku Village in Hpruso Township on Saturday. [caption id=«attachment_127332» align=«aligncenter» width=«720»] A large quantity of weapons and ammunition seized by resistance forces in Hpaswaung and Demoso townships in early August / Karenni Generation Youth-B Facebook[/caption] The battle lasted about one hour and junta troops were backed by air strikes and shelling, according to the resistance forces. The death toll among junta troops remains unknown. KNDF Battalion 14 reported on Sunday that combined resistance forces attacked a junta column on Loikaw-Shadaw Road on Aug. 11, killing at least four junta forces and injuring many others. On Aug. 9, resistance forces clashed with junta troops near Hpruso’s Ka Dar Lar Village. A KNDF member was killed during the clash, according to KNDF Battalion 14. Meanwhile, security has been tightened in Loikaw town after junta troops were ambushed by allied resistance forces on Aug. 9. At least three junta forces were killed and seven injured according to the Karenni Army (KA). The Irrawaddy was unable to verify the number of junta casualties. Transportation of food supplies, medicine and commodities from Loikaw Township is tightly restricted, according to local volunteers. “Severe food shortages are possible in the coming months due to the junta’s restrictions and surging prices,” a volunteer said. Aid groups said around 100,000 people are in need of urgent food supplies and healthcare assistance.

Ethnic Chin resistance groups claimed to have penetrated the headquarters of a military battalion in Falam town, Chin State on Saturday, inflicting many junta casualties and seizing an arsenal. At 1 a.m. on Saturday, the Chin National Army (CNA), the armed wing of the Chin National Front (CNF), and two other Chin resistance groups raided the military’s Light Infantry Battalion 268 in Falam, a CNA official told the media. After two hours of fighting, the joint resistance forces managed to occupy the arsenal after penetrating the military base, seizing ammunition and over 10 weapons including an M2 .50 caliber machine gun, according to the resistance group. In the clash, six regime forces were killed and nine injured, claimed the CNA official. The Irrawaddy was unable to independently verify the military casualties. Resistance fighter Ko Wunna Tun, the deputy commander of Battalion 4 of the Chin Defense Force (Kalay, Kabaw, Gangaw), was also killed in the clash, said the resistance group, which joined the raid. After the resistance raids, the military base randomly shelled nearby villages using 120-mm, 80-mm and 40-mm explosives, injuring three civilians including a child. In retaliation for the resistance raid, the junta used fighter jets to bomb Ramthlo Village on the Falam-Hakha highway, 35 km south of Falam town, at noon, destroying some houses and a church, according to Chin media outlets. [caption id=«attachment_127328» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] The remains of a Church after junta fighter jets bombed Ramthlo Village in the south of Falam on Saturday at noon / Khonuthung[/caption] Seven residents suffered injuries in the air strikes. On Monday morning, junta fighter jets also bombed Khuafo Village in Thantlang Township, destroying at least three houses and a church. The air strike came after Chin resistance groups led by the CNA reportedly occupied a junta base during a raid in Thantlang town, according to Chin media outlet Khonuthung. On March 30, the junta used fighter jets to bomb Khuafo Village, killing at least 10 residents including children.

At least 17 Myanmar junta forces as well as a resistance fighter were killed in the last three days as People’s Defense Force groups (PDFs) and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) stepped up attacks on regime targets across the country. In one case, ethnic Chin resistance forces raided a military battalion, occupying an arsenal. Incidents were reported in Sagaing, Magwe and Mandalay regions and Chin, Shan, Kayah and Karen states. The Irrawaddy has collected the following reports of significant attacks from PDFs and EAOs. Some military casualty figures could not be independently verified.   Junta soldiers killed in resistance ambush in Sagaing  PDF fighters ambush regime forces on motorbikes in Ayadaw Township on Sunday. / Ayadaw Post At least four regime troops were killed in Ayadaw Township, Sagaing Region on Saturday when four resistance groups ambushed eight regime forces from Naung Gyi Ai police station, according to the Ayadaw Post, a local revolutionary media outlet. The junta troops were attacked while going shopping on four motorbikes. During the attack, two were killed on the spot. Regime forces fled from the ambush site after abandoning their motorbikes and the bodies of two dead soldiers. Two more junta troops died of serious injuries on Sunday. Pro-junta village raided in Sagaing [caption id=«attachment_127317» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] Resistance fighters of Bagan Ogre Forces / BOF[/caption] The PDF group Bagan Ogre Force told local media that it and around 10 local resistance groups managed to occupy and burn down the pro-junta village of Kuu Toe Seik in Shwebo Township, Sagaing Region last Friday. The village is a base of 50 junta troops and all villagers are believed to be pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia members, said the PDF group. After two hours of raids, regime forces and Pyu Saw Htee militias fled to a nearby village despite being reinforced with more regime forces. A militia member was arrested. All resistance groups retreated from the village after running out of ammunition. Regime targets killed in resistance drone strikes in Sagaing  Local resistance groups conduct drone strikes on regime targets in Shwebo Township on Saturday. / Wild Tiger PDF At least three regime forces were killed in Shwebo Township, Sagaing Region on Saturday when resistance groups conducted done strikes on regime targets in two locations, said Wild Tiger PDF, which coordinated the attacks. First, the resistance group used a drone to drop two 60-mm improvised bombs on regime forces and Pyu Saw Htee militia transporting injured soldiers and militia members from Kuu Toe Seik Village to a hospital on Saturday morning. The regime group was bombarded while using a destroyed bridge to cross a creek. One soldier was killed. On the same day, the resistance group continued to conduct drone strikes on a military logistics unit in Zee Phyu Kone Village while transporting rations to a military base at the village. Two more soldiers were killed and two others injured in the bombardment, said the PDF group. Military vessel ambushed in Sagaing  Resistance forces ambush a military vessel on the Chindwin River in Salingyi Township on Saturday. / Hero Fighters The PDF group Hero Fighter (Salingyi) said it and other resistance groups ambushed a military vessel with 20 soldiers traveling on the Chindwin River in Salingyi Township, Sagaing Region on Saturday. The vessel from the base of the North West Military Command in Monywa was ambushed on its return trip after transporting rations and ammunition to a military unit in Salingyi Township. During the ambush, one heavy explosive hit the vessel. Military casualties were unknown. Military bases bombed by drones in Sagaing  Resistance forces conduct drone strikes on a military base in Alal Kyun Village in Kani Township last Friday. / KLG PDF Kyauk Lone Gyi PDF said it and other resistance groups used makeshift remote-controlled airplanes to bomb regime bases at a police station and junta-run township General Administration Department offices as well as in the pro-regime village of Alal Kyun in Kani Township, Sagaing Region on Saturday and last Friday. During the drone strikes on regime targets in the town of Kani, eight regime forces suffered injuries, said the PDF group citing military informants. Military unit ambushed by resistance snipers in Sagaing  A resistance sniper takes part in an ambush against regime forces in Chaung-U Township last Friday. / Delta Force Taung Tha A regime soldier was killed in Chaung-U Township, Sagaing Region last Friday when snipers of two resistance groups ambushed a military unit of 30 troops patrolling in the east of the township, claimed Delta Force Thaung Tha, which joined the attack. Military battalion raided in Chin [caption id=«attachment_127318» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] Military weapons seized by a Chin resistance group during a raid on a military battalion in Falam Township on Saturday. / The Chin Journal[/caption] At least six regime soldiers as well as a resistance fighter were killed in Falam Township, Chin State early on Saturday when ethnic Chin resistance groups including the Chin National Army (CNA), the armed wing of the Chin National Front, raided the headquarters of military Infantry Battalion 268, according to local Chin media outlets. In the raid, several military weapons including a .50 caliber machine gun were seized by the resistance groups. Heavy clash breaks out in Kayah [caption id=«attachment_127319» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] Military weapons and ammunition seized during a clash in Hpruso Township on Saturday. / Kantarawaddy Times[/caption] A large quantity of military weapons and ammunition was seized in Hpruso Township, Kayah State on Saturday when Karenni resistance groups clashed with regime forces, according to local media reports citing the Karenni Army (KA), the armed wing of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP). During an hour of fighting, junta forces conducted air strikes on resistance targets. Casualties were unknown for either side. Police station, military headquarters bombed in Karen [caption id=«attachment_127320» align=«aligncenter» width=«1430»] Galon Column, a joint resistance group of PDF and KNLA troops / Galon Column[/caption] At least three regime forces and associates, including the wife of a battalion commander, were injured in Kawkareik Township, Karen State on Saturday when drone units of the resistance group Galon Column used drones to bomb a police station and the base of military Light Infantry Battalion 545 based in Kyondoe town, said the resistance group. A military vehicle was also damaged in the drone strikes. Two civilians were injured when the regime bases indiscriminately responded with heavy explosives. Clashes continue in northern Shan [caption id=«attachment_127321» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] Ta’ang National Liberation Army troops / TNLA[/caption] Ethnic rebel group the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) said an intense clash broke out between it and a military unit of 60 troops near a village in Lashio Township, northern Shan State last Friday. Casualties on both sides were unknown. After the clash, the junta deployed a large numbers of regime forces to the area. Between July 23 and Aug. 12, around 12 clashes between the TNLA and junta forces broke out in northern Shan State. Junta patrol members killed in Magwe  PDF groups ambush soldiers patrolling on motorbikes in Myaing Township on Saturday night. / MVRF Myaing Villages Revolution Front (MVRF) claimed to have killed three junta soldiers as it and other resistance groups ambushed three soldiers patrolling on two motorbikes in Myaing town, Magwe Region on Saturday night. Two military weapons were seized in the ambush. Regime forces injured in drone strikes in Mandalay Three junta forces were injured in Ngazun Township, Mandalay Region on Sunday when six resistance groups used drones to drop six bombs on 30 regime forces in Kan Thar Village, said Black Eagle Defense Force (Myinmu), which coordinated the attack. Regime forces bombed in Mandalay [caption id=«attachment_127322» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] An improvised land mine produced by Kyar Nyat PDF based in Thabeikkyin Township / Kyar Nyat PDF[/caption] Many regime forces are believed to have been killed or injured in Thabeikkyin Township, Mandalay Region on Sunday when Kyar Nyat PDF triggered land mines to ambush military vehicles and junta units from four locations in the township, said the resistance group.

Also this week, incoming ASEAN chair Laos wooed junta, and regime boss lamented fake-election disruption while shifting blame for power cuts.

An airline operated by a junta crony is set to launch direct flights between Myanmar and Russia’s third largest city next month. Myanmar Airways International (MIA) will fly from Yangon and Mandalay to Russia’s Novosibirsk—the third largest city in Russia and a major producer of nuclear energy and technology— every Tuesday and Saturday starting from September 5. The ticket fare is US$ 409. MAI is owned by Aung Aung Zaw, who sponsors junta boss Min Aung Hlaing’s international travel. But Russia, the major arms supplier of the regime, has been the only country Min Aung Hlaing can visit so far since the coup. MAI’s direct flight to Russia is its first international flight outside of Asia. Amid international sanctions, Myanmar’s junta and Russia’s government have established and fostered multi-sectoral cooperation, from politics, diplomacy and nuclear technology, arms supply, to education and health. Direct flights are a new step in collaboration between the two pariah states. They also follow a cooperation agreement between Myanmar’s junta and Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom last year, which has major subsidiaries in Novosibirsk. The flights will debut about one year after Min Aung Hlaing’s visit to Russia when he met President Vladimir Putin and discussed direct flights to promote tourism. MAI was previously the national carrier. Kanbawza Group, owned by top crony Aung Ko Win, took it over under Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government. Aung Aung Zaw, who heads 24 Hour Groups of Companies, acquired the airline from Aung Ko Win in late 2018. Ma Yadanar Maung, a spokesperson for advocacy group Justice for Myanmar (JFM), told The Irrawaddy: “MAI is a key business partner of the Myanmar military junta. MAI and the Myanmar Air Force have shared aircraft and the junta leadership use an MAI-branded aircraft for their international travel, including to Russia, where the junta leadership has discussed business and the purchase of arms.” Following US sanctions against two state-owned banks – Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank—crucial to supplying US dollars for the regime,  Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB) said it will shut all of MAI’s bank accounts by August 15.

Myanmar's civilian National Unity Government's defense ministry claims junta forces suffered heavy losses in Kyauktaga Township, Bago Region, on Wednesday. The shadow ministry said on Thursday that its resistance groups and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the country's oldest revolutionary group the Karen National Union, attacked around 60 Light Infantry Battalion 589 troops at Thamin Inn Kone village in the east of the township for about nine hours. Other junta units based in nearby Thahtay Kone village and Kyauktaga town supported ground troops during the fighting with shelling and a fighter jet conducted two airstrikes against resistance forces, said the Special Commando Battalion that coordinated the attack. More than 30 regime soldiers were killed and around 24 weapons, including an anti-drone jammer and a large quantity of ammunition, were seized, said the civilian ministry. A resistance fighter and two KNLA troops were killed in the fighting, it said. [caption id=«attachment_127284» align=«aligncenter» width=«921»] Regime soldiers killed in Thamin Inn Kone village, Kyauktaga Township, on Wednesday. / Special Commando Battalion[/caption] Kyauktaga People's Defense Force on Thursday said the junta has cut off phone connections in the area. The junta has not retrieved its dead soldiers from the area, it added. Resistance groups say they have stepped up attacks in Bago Region in recent months. On Wednesday, resistance groups raided a police station in Nyaung Pin Thar village, Phyu Township, killing two regime troops and injuring four others, said the ministry. It said drones were used to drop two 60mm bombs on regime forces in a forest near a police station in Oak Phyat village in the township on Tuesday. Four regime troops were killed and three injured, it said. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports. Resistance snipers attacked the police station and used explosives, killing one junta soldier and injuring three others.

At least 55 Myanmar junta forces as well as three resistance fighters were killed in the last three days as People’s Defense Force groups (PDFs) and an ethnic armed organization (EAO) stepped up attacks on regime targets across the country. In one case, two regime soldiers defected to a resistance group in Karen State. Incidents were reported in Bago, Sagaing, Mandalay and Magwe regions and Karen State. The Irrawaddy has collected the following reports of significant attacks from PDFs and the EAO. Some military casualty figures could not be independently verified. Junta suffers heavy losses in resistance attack in Bago’s Kyauktaga [caption id=«attachment_127240» align=«aligncenter» width=«468»] Junta soldiers killed in a clash with PDFs and KNLA troops in Kyauktaga Township on Wednesday / Khit Thit Media[/caption] More than 30 regime forces were killed and many others injured in Kyauktaga Township, Bago Region when a joint force of PDFs and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU), attacked a military unit for nine hours in Thamin Inn Kone Village, said the Defense Ministry of the civilian National Unity Government (NUG), which formed the PDFs. A PDF fighter and two KNLA troops were also killed. A large quantity of military weapons and ammunition was seized by the resistance groups. The junta forces had not yet retrieved their dead soldiers from the clash site, according to Kyauktaga PDF, which added that the junta also cut off phone connections in the township. Regime forces killed in series of resistance attacks in Bago [caption id=«attachment_127241» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] Resistance members of Royal Peacock Column during an operation in Bago Region / Royal Peacock Column[/caption] At least seven regime troops were killed when resistance groups conducted attacks on regime targets in Phyu Township, Bago Region on Tuesday and Wednesday, said the NUG’s Defense Ministry. On Aug. 9, PDF groups raided a police station in Nyaung Pin Thar Village, killing two regime forces and injuring four others. PDF groups retreated from the area without casualties. On Tuesday, the resistance group also used a drone to drop two 60-mm mortar bombs on regime forces positioned in a forest near a police station in Oak Phyat Village, Phyu Township. Four regime forces were killed and three injured. The resistance groups continued to attack the regime forces at the police station with sniper fire and heavy explosives, killing one more regime soldier and injuring three others. Junta soldiers killed by resistance mines in Bago [caption id=«attachment_127242» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] A battalion of Bago Region People’s Defense Force / Bago Region PDF[/caption] At least four regime troops were killed and many others injured in Nattalin Township, Bago Region on Wednesday when Tharyarwaddy District PDF Battalion 1 triggered land mines to ambush a military unit heading to a resistance area near Taung Nyo Dam, said the PDF group. After being ambushed, the retreating soldiers burned houses in nearby Pyinn Ma Khaung Village on that afternoon. Regime targets bombed by resistance drones in Magwe Myaing PDF said it and other resistance groups used drones and makeshift remote-controlled planes to drop bombs on regime forces stationed in the pro-regime village of Thayet Khwa, where a Pyu Saw Htee militia group was formed, in Myaing Township, Magwe Region on Thursday. Military casualties were unknown. Police station attacked in Magwe  Combined resistance forces stage a surprise attack on a police station in Kamma town, Pakokku Township on Wednesday. / Scorpion PDF (Myaing) Two junta troops were gunned down in Pakokku Township, Magwe Region on Wednesday when several resistance groups jointly staged a surprise attack on a police station in Kamma town, said West Plains Force, which joined the attack. Military checkpoints pounded in Magwe  Resistance forces fire improvised mortar rounds at regime bases in Myaing Township on Tuesday. / Myaing PDF Three regime forces were killed or injured in Myaing Township, Magwe Region on Tuesday when local resistance groups used a large number of makeshift mortar rounds to shell two military bases on the highways linking Mandalay and Pakokku Township, said Myaing People’s Defense Force, which coordinated the attacks. Junta forces responded indiscriminately with heavy explosives and firearms, but there were no resistance casualties. Military flotilla ambushed in Sagaing [caption id=«attachment_127243» align=«aligncenter» width=«1430»] Kyauk Lone Gyi PDF fighters after an anti-regime operation in Kani Township, Sagaing Region / KLG PDF[/caption] Kyauk Lone Gyi PDF claimed to have killed a soldier as it and other resistance groups used sniper rifles to ambush regime forces on a military flotilla of 12 vessels including barges and gunboats traveling on the Chindwin River in Kani Township, Sagaing Region on Wednesday. Regime forces killed in resistance drone strikes in Mandalay  Resistance drones drop bombs on regime targets in Ngazun Township on Wednesday. / Black Eagle Defense Force (Myinmu) At least four junta soldiers including a captain were killed in Ngazun Township, Mandalay Region on Wednesday when six resistance groups used drones to drop bombs on regime forces stationed in the pro-junta village of Yay Lal Thaung, where pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia groups were formed, said Black Eagle Defense Force (Myinmu), which joined the attacks. The next day, the combined resistance groups continued to conduct drone strikes on another military unit including Pyu Saw Htee militias from Kan Thar Village as the regime forces were traveling to Yay Lal Thaung. In the drone strikes, many regime forces suffered injuries. Junta troops responded with firearms but all resistance members retreated from the area without casualties, the resistance groups said. Military vehicles hit by mines in Mandalay  Natogyi PDF members trigger land mines during a recent ambush of military vehicles in Natogyi Township. / Natogyi PDF Natogyi PDF claimed to have killed four regime soldiers and injured many others when it triggered land mines to ambush three military trucks in Natogyi Township, Mandalay Region on Wednesday. The vehicles were ambushed while traveling from Natogyi to Myittha town in the east of the township. Two junta soldiers defect in Karen [caption id=«attachment_127244» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] A defecting soldier hands over a weapon to the resistance group Cobra Column in Karen State on Tuesday. / KNU’s Dooplayar District[/caption] Two junta soldiers including a sergeant from Light Infantry Battalion 118 defected from the military and joined Karen resistance fighters in Myawaddy Township, Karen State on Tuesday, said Myanmar’s oldest ethnic rebel group, the Karen National Union (KNU). The two defectors surrendered their weapons to the resistance group. Each soldier was given a 50,000 Thai baht (US$1,400) reward for defecting.

The ethnic armed organization said the coup that brought the military regime to power and the junta’s violence against the people rendered the agreement void.

An infant and his 23-year-old mother were among those killed during a nighttime airstrike on a village monastery in southern Sagaing Region on Thursday, residents of Ta Laing Village said. One of two bombs dropped by a junta fighter jet at 2.15am on Thursday hit Ta Laing monastery where many of the residents of the village in Sagaing Township were sleeping. Besides the mother and her eight-month-old boy, a 65-year-old woman was killed by the bomb, 15 other people were injured while sleeping inside the monastery, and an unknown number of livestock were killed, residents said. No clashes between junta troops and resistance forces had occurred in the area prior to the airstrike, they said. Residents were taking refuge in the village because regime ground troops had entered nearby villages via the Ayeyarwady River, they said. “Residents fled [to the monastery] as regime troops were approaching villages by river. Troops raided Ta Laing Village [after the airstrike], but the details are unknown,” a resident of Sagaing Township told The Irrawaddy. The Sagaing District Medical Team said some residents of the village were arrested by the junta ground troops who arrived after the airstrike. Residents of Sint Kaing, Oak Pho and Chaung Oo villages have fled as regime ground troops approach. Regime troops raided Ta Laing Village before. On July 2, they killed five local resistance fighters and torched more than 100 homes. Junta troops have been attacking resistance strongholds by air, on the ground and from rivers. Widespread indiscriminate airstrikes in resistance areas as well as massacres have been documented in great detail. In April, 157 civilians including 42 children in Kantbalu Township’s Pazigyi village were killed by a junta airstrike.

A knotty problem for the general …

The chairwoman of a Mandalay-based charity was rearrested by Myanmar's military regime on Wednesday after being freed from jail some two months ago under an amnesty. Ma Shwe Mahar Nwe, also known as Ma Nwe New Win, who leads Shwe Mahar Nwe blood donors association and Mandalay's branch of the Myanmar Rescue Federation, was released in May after being imprisoned for two years since late 2021. A family member of Ma Shwe Mahar Nwe said her whereabouts remain unknown and authorities had offered no information about her detention. “We only knew about her arrest after [pro-junta channel] Han Nyein Oo posted that she had been detained at around 1 pm. She was with us on Wednesday morning. She left home after lunch saying that she would donate blood at the 300-bed hospital on 62nd Street. She said she and other members were donating blood when we had phone contact with her around 1 pm. We have since lost contact with her,” said the family member. On Wednesday morning, pro-junta Telegram channel ‘Han Nyein Oo’ called for the arrest of Ma Shwe Mahar Nwe, alleging she had participated in activities to mark the 35th anniversary of the pro-democracy 8888 Uprising. Within hours, the channel posted a photo of Ma Shwe Mahar Nwe blindfolded and wearing a mask inside a private vehicle. A member of Shwe Mahar Nwe charity said: “She did not participate in activities to mark the 8888 Uprising. She has not participated in any political activities since her release from prison. We are worried about her safety. The photo posted by Han Nyein Oo is not of her. It was another person, but [junta personnel] arrested her without verifying the photo.” Ma Shwe Mahar Nwe was arrested on November 15, 2021 as her association sought donations of clothes for displacement camps and orphanages. After she posted on Facebook that people could also donate camouflage clothing, junta troops arrested her at her office on November 15. She was then charged with sedition and handed three years in jail. After spending nearly two years behind bars, she was released conditionally on May 3 when the regime granted an amnesty to mark the Kasone Full Moon Day.

Almost 75,000 homes have been incinerated in six regions and seven states of Myanmar by junta forces and affiliated militias since the February 2021 coup, according to Data for Myanmar. “As of 31 July 2023, Myanmar's military and its affiliated groups burned down approximately 74,874 civilian houses,” the independent organization reported on Tuesday. In June and July of this year more than 4,250 homes were incinerated, it said. Junta forces have been using arson attacks to deter and retaliate against those who oppose military rule, with their frequency highest in resistance strongholds. Arson attacks accelerated rapidly in the second year after the coup, according to figures provided by Data for Myanmar. Junta forces torched at least 2,111 homes in 2021 and 46,905 in 2022, the group said. As of the end of July 2023, they have torched 25,858 homes so far this year, according to Data for Myanmar. Sagaing Region has been hardest hit. Rural and urban areas of the region accounted for 77% of all homes torched since the coup. Magwe Region and Chin State followed. In terms of entire villages being incinerated, about 15 percent were in Magwe Region and three percent were in Chin State, Data for Myanmar said. Seven percent of the homes torched by junta forces and affiliated militias were in Bago, Mandalay,Tanintharyi and Yangon regions, and in Kachin, Kayah, Mon, Shan and Rakhine states.