Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB) — which is known as the offshore bank of choice for Myanmar generals — has told Myanmar banks that it will cut off ties with them by September 1, Nikkei Asia reported on Wednesday. According to the report, the financial giant said in a confidential note sent to Myanmar banks last week that it will restrict all incoming and outgoing payments to and from Myanmar account holders, allowing funds to be moved only between accounts held with the bank. It will also impose tough new curbs on Visa and Mastercard transactions by Myanmar individuals and banks, restricting their dealings to accounts within UOB. In addition, UOB said it would close Myanmar banks' «nostro» accounts at its Hong Kong branch — foreign currency accounts banks hold at overseas counterparts to facilitate trade, the report said. Last month, the bank also told Myanmar Airways International (MAI) that it would shut down all of the airline’s accounts by mid-August, following US sanctions in June on two Myanmar state-owned banks that conduct international transactions. The latest clampdown was also seen as a response to US pressure on Singapore to curb offshore banking and financial services for Myanmar's military regime, as the actions followed a series of visits to Singapore by US State Department Counselor Derek Chollet and senior sanctions coordination officials, who met with the Monetary Authority of Singapore and key Singaporean banks in April. Singapore is the largest source of foreign investment in Myanmar as well as the preferred haven for Myanmar’s military rulers and their cronies. They make frequent visits to the city state for medical reasons, recreation or to squirrel away money in bank accounts held by proxies. Many Singaporean companies have commercial ties with Myanmar’s junta and its conglomerates. Following the coup, the city state saw its financial leverage over the regime rise. UN Rapporteur Tom Andrews also revealed that the number of Singapore-based entities known to have supplied the Myanmar junta’s military has risen to 138 with the addition of 91 entities.

After reshuffling his cabinet last week, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has appointed his economic advisor, retired Lt-General Nyo Saw, to two vital economic committees—one that control foreign exchange and another that oversees trade. Nyo Saw was appointed to the Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee (FESC), and the Committee on Ensuring a Smooth Flow of Trade and Goods when they were reconstituted last month. He was appointed as Min Aung Hlaing’s economic advisor last month. Yangon-based executives say that Min Aung Hlaing is hoping that Nyo Saw can solve the foreign-currency crisis caused by a steep decline in foreign trade and foreign investment since the February 2021 coup. The FESC is tasked with stabilizing exchange rates, and scrutinizing spending of foreign currency on imports of essential commodities that are not produced domestically, such as fuel, medicine, oil, fertilizer and building materials, according to junta media. The other committee Nyo Saw was appointed to focuses on trade. Nyo Saw’s business experience, however, is in military-owned companies. He is the chairman of one military-owned conglomerate, Myanmar Economic Corporation, and holds a senior post at another, Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. He also holds a senior post military-owned Inwa Bank. Nyo Saw also chairs a committee to import fuel from Russia, the regime’s major arms supplier. The committee was formed in August 2022 as fuel shortages hit the country. Along with his experience in military-owned businesses, he is also considered to be loyal to Min Aung Hlaing. “Min Aung Hlaing has the trust and confidence in Lt-General Nyo Saw,” a Yangon-based executive said. Nyo Saw was part of the 23rd intake of the Defense Services Academy, and later served as the commandant of both the Defense Services Technological Academy and the Defense Services Academy, as well as the head of the central and southern commands before he retired as quartermaster general in 2020. Nyo Saw’s swift rise to senior economic posts in the junta will be ineffectual, a Myanmar-based economist told The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity. One person cannot salvage an economy that has collapsed due to political instability and mismanagement, the economist said.  The situation is even more precarious because very little foreign currency flows into Myanmar and two state-owned banks crucial for international transactions have been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department, the economist added. “The ongoing economic crisis was triggered by the coup. There won’t be changes in the economy without political changes first,” he said. In June, the United States sanctioned Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank for enabling the military regime to fund violence with foreign currency earned from state-owned enterprises. The sanctions on the two banks, which have been the key financial institutions controlling the flow of foreign currency in Myanmar for decades, have seriously disrupted junta’s access to US dollars and US dollar transactions.

Local anti-regime strike organizations in Sagaing Region 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. In partnership with the military-owned Myanma Economic Holdings Ltd, Wanbao and its two subsidiaries, Myanmar Wanbao Mining Copper Ltd and Myanmar Yang Tse Copper Ltd, run three copper mines – Letpadaung, Sabetaung and Kyesintaung – in Salingyi Township. 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 issued a statement on Monday saying that the mining companies are supporting the military in various ways. The companies give junta troops a base in their compounds, providing food and resources a s well as vehicles for the soldiers to raid villages in the township. Wanbao has also allowed the military to use its company compound as an artillery base that shells surrounding villages, the statement said. With this support, junta soldiers are able to arbitrarily kill travelers on the Nyaung Pin Gyi-Salingyi road, plant landmines near lampposts and in residents’ farms, and burn their houses in nearby villages. Furthermore, junta troops are forcing residents along the Pathein-Monywa road to leave their villages whenever the two companies transport cargo or Chinese workers. Regime troops based in the mining companies' compounds have been brutally killing local civilians and torching their houses since soon after the coup, according to the Yinmabin-Salingyi multi-village strike steering committee. “Military training for the pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia was held in these compounds. The worst is that fences are being built in places that could not be fenced before the coup,” Ko Lwan Thu, the head of the strike committee, told The Irrawaddy. Recently, Myanmar Wanbao seized neighboring farmland and fenced-off farms in old Wethmay village to the east of the mining compound. «They fenced an area around the Wanbao company and covered it with green plastic. Some residents are trapped in this area, but we still don't know about their condition,» Ma Chaw Su Han, a representative of Monywa University Student Union, told The Irrawaddy. The joint statement was issued by the student union, Lapataung Taung main strike column, North Yinmarbin strike force, Yinmabin-Salingyi multi-village strike steering committee and regional strikes forces. The student union representative said the regional strike forces will send their plea over human rights violations by the mining companies to international embassies. The statement said despite Wanbao frequently claiming via social media that it conducted development activities for locals, compensation for residents whose land had been confiscated for mining has not yet been paid and demands of displaced residents have not been addressed. “All the posts on their Facebook pages are fake. They are supporting the terrorist military,” Ko Lwan Thu said.

An anti-regime people’s authority in Magwe Region flogged two women for allegedly being abusive during a village meeting. Daw Htay Kyi, 58, and Daw Zin Mar Khaing, 38, were from Hnaw village in Saw Township. The deputy head of the Pa Ka Pha (people’s defense team) in Kyauk Htu town ordered the caning on July 21 for sneering while members of the people’s authority and Pa Ka Pha addressed a meeting on July 19 in Hnaw. The village Pa Ka Pha head told The Irrawaddy: “They swore as I stood up to speak. Yes, they were flogged. The deputy chief was angry at their rude words despite us exercising strict discipline. When I went to the [Pa Ka Pha office] on July 21, Daw Zin Mar Khaing was already in the stocks. We have two types of punishment, caning and fines, and they were caned.” The two women were put in stocks, their hands tied behind their backs and they lay on their stomachs as they were flogged more than 30 times with bamboo sticks. Daw Htay Kyi was hit in her face, hurting her nose and cheekbone, according to a witness. Photos show the two women with black bruises on their hips, thighs and shins. They did not receive proper medical treatment, said residents. [caption id=«attachment_127195» align=«aligncenter» width=«1280»] One of the women flogged by Pa Ka Pha members. / CJ[/caption] Some residents said Daw Zin Mar Khaing was around four months’ pregnant and miscarried due to the flogging. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify that. Saw Township Pa Ka Pha head U Kyaw Myint said he had not received any complaint about the beating and there was no medical letter confirming the pregnancy. In Hnaw village, the people’s authority, allied to the National Unity Government (NUG), and the Pa Ka Pha run an administration, imposing punishments such as flogging and shackling. Residents said beating civilians, particularly women, by organizations fighting the military dictatorship for democracy is unacceptable. They called on the NUG to stop the punishments. A resident, who did not want to be named, said: “It is totally unacceptable. What we want is democracy based on human rights. While they say they are fighting for democracy, they violate human rights. I doubt they really want democracy.” The head of Hnaw village Pa Ka Pha claimed that Daw Htay Kyi had been warned for saying that she would lead junta troops to people’s authority and Pa Ka Pha members should soldiers come to their village and tell them to burn their houses. But residents said no one had ever been harmed by Daw Htay Kyi.

More than 50 people were thought to be on the boat heading to Malaysia from Rakhine State when it got into trouble in heavy seas on Sunday night.

A prominent pro-democracy activist is calling on people within and outside Myanmar to open a new front in the war against Myanmar’s junta by boycotting eight products produced by companies it controls. [caption id=«attachment_127156» align=«aligncenter» width=«2560»] Boycott list of beverages from the National Unity Government’s Ministry of Planning, Finance and Investment. / NUG-MOPFI[/caption] The boycott will help cut off funding to a regime that is using the money made from the sale of the products to massacre its own people, U Min Ko Naing, a leader of the 88 generation, said on Tuesday. The boycott follows a report released in Geneva on Tuesday by UN investigators who said they had gathered strong evidence of surging war crimes in Myanmar, including mass executions and sexual violence, and were building case files to help bring the perpetrators to justice. “The time has come for us to launch a war on the financial and economic [front] at the highest level, which will cut off all sources of income of the terrorist [junta],” he said, explaining that the boycott will show the strength of the people and will be implemented in steps. [caption id=«attachment_127157» align=«aligncenter» width=«2560»] Boycott list of cigarettes from the NUG's Ministry of Planning, Finance and Investment.  / NUG-MOPFI[/caption] The first step is to cut off the income the regime earns from the sale of alcohol, beer and cigarettes its companies produce, the activist said on his Facebook page. The eight products are among those that provide the most “blood money [used to buy] weapons and ammunition [that is] killing our people,” he said, urging people of all ages and nationalities to join the boycott. The initial stage of the boycott will last two months and its goal is to reduce sales of the eight products by 70 percent, U Min Ko Naing said. The eight products are: Myanmar beer Andaman Gold beverages Dagon beer and beverages Mandalay beer and rum Black Shield Stout Beer Army Rum Red Ruby cigarettes Premium gold cigarettes Ko Min Ko Naing is a member of the ’88 Generation student movement and a prominent democracy figure. He was imprisoned for 25 years after the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. He was awarded the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights in 2009. The prize is given by the May 18 Memorial Foundation in honor of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising against South Korean dictator Chun Doo-hwan, and those killed in the massacre that ensued. The uprising is considered by many South Koreans to be a pivotal event in their decades-long struggle for democracy.

The report says Mallee Resources Limited failed to assess the potential human rights impact of its Bawdwin mine in northern Shan State.

Junta raids and indiscriminate shelling have wounded a child and at least three other civilians while forcing about 8,000 villagers to flee in Khin-U Township, Sagaing Region, according to local sources. A 10-year-old boy was among four civilians hurt when troops based in Ye-U Township fired shells into Khin-U villages this morning, according to a local volunteer. “They have been shelling since last night. A boy was hit by shrapnel and sustained leg injuries,” the volunteer said. [caption id=«attachment_127136» align=«aligncenter» width=«1600»] Junta raids and indiscriminate shelling forced about 8,000 villagers to flee in Khin-U Township. (Photo: Supplied)[/caption] All of the victims are receiving medical treatment and none has life-threatening injuries, he added. Villagers said junta troops also opened fire with artillery as they attempted to raid the township’s Inn Pat village.  However, the raid failed when regime soldiers ran into a mine ambush laid by resistance forces at the north side of the village. “Two junta dogs [soldiers] died on the spot and four were injured,” a local resistance member said. The Irrawaddy was unable to verify the number of junta casualties. At least 3,000 residents from six villages including Inn Pat fled their villages as a result of the junta raid and bombardments. “Many people have left their villages because junta forces are deliberately conducting artillery attacks on villages,” a villager said. Another 100 junta troops and allied  Pyu Saw Htee militia raided Ya Than village in southern Khin-U on Wednesday morning to rescue Pyu Saw Htee members who were being detained in the village, according to a local resident. “At least 25 Pyu Saw Htee members from Hpoke Kone village were arrested by resistance forces a few days ago and they were being detained at Ya Than village,” a villager said. Sources said junta troops left the village soon after they had rescued the militia members. About 5,000 people from five villages in southern Khin-U fled their homes on Wednesday and are sheltering at monasteries and schools, according to residents. Five civilians, including a six-year-old boy, were killed and seven injured in indiscriminate junta shelling in Khin-U last month. Around 5,500 houses in 75 villages have reportedly been incinerated by junta infantry in the township since the 2021 coup.

Memories of three young activists haunt Nyaung Kan in Sagaing, two weeks after unprovoked ambush by regime soldiers.

After 35 years, many members of the 88 Generation, most of whom were young student activists during the 8888 Uprising of 1988, continue to inspire and make sacrifices for the cause of democracy and freedom in Myanmar. Among the 88 Generation members who remained active and sacrificed for the ongoing revolution to root out the military dictatorship after another military takeover ended the short-lived country’s democratic period in February 2021, one stands out as the most exemplary. He was Ko Kyaw Min Yu, better known as Ko Jimmy. [caption id=«attachment_127143» align=«aligncenter» width=«1023»] Ko Jimmy (center) and his wife Ma Nilar Thein leave Yangon International Airport following their release in January 2012.[/caption] The new military regime led by Min Aung Hlaing hanged the veteran democracy activist in Yangon’s Insein Prison on July 23 last year, after eight months of detention, for his anti-regime activities against military rule. Also killed were former hip-hop artist and parliamentarian Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw and two others. The executions were the first in more than four decades. The 53-year-old was held dear by the Myanmar people, including the young, for his democracy activism. He is survived by a daughter, now 15, and his wife, Ma Nilar Thein, who was herself an 88 Generation Student Group leader. Ma Nilar Thein is in hiding due to her anti-junta activism. In  1988, Ko Jimmy was a young university student and among the leading figures of the 88 Generation Student Group. [caption id=«attachment_127144» align=«aligncenter» width=«597»] Ko Jimmy (third from left) along with his 88 Generation comrades[/caption] He spent nearly half his life as a prisoner, serving 21 years in Insein and Tharawaddy prisons from 1988 to 2005 and 2007 to 2012. He was first sentenced to 20 years in jail for his involvement in the student demonstrations and underground movement during the 1988 popular uprising, and was later given five years for his role in the Saffron Revolution in 2007. After his release in 2012, Ko Jimmy worked with philanthropic projects, capacity-building schemes for young people and educational programs along with 88 Generation comrades like Ko Min Ko Naing. He was also known for his literary works. [caption id=«attachment_127145» align=«aligncenter» width=«720»] Ko Jimmy and his family[/caption] When the military staged a coup and overthrew the civilian government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Ko Jimmy was one of the 88 Generation members at the forefront of the anti-regime movement and called on the public to root out the military dictatorship. [caption id=«attachment_127146» align=«aligncenter» width=«1080»] Ko Jimmy (right), State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and his comrade Ko Min Ko Naing (left) at a state dinner in 2018.[/caption] The junta arrested him in October at his hideout in Yangon and charged him with high treason and counterterrorism for allegedly masterminding a campaign of guerrilla warfare against the regime in the country’s biggest city. He was accused of threatening “public tranquility” with social media posts criticizing military rule. The regime also said Ko Jimmy was the leader of Operation Moonlight, which carried out hugely successful urban guerrilla attacks. [caption id=«attachment_127147» align=«aligncenter» width=«2560»] Ko Jimmy donates essentials during the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020.[/caption] In an interview for the 33rd anniversary of the 8888 uprising in August 2021 with local media outlet Burma VJ, two months before of his arrest in Yangon, Ko Jimmy expressed concern that the revolution should proceed without delay, saying the country and people would have to suffer if it took a long time. But he said he believed that the current struggle would be the final battle to bring down the junta and end military dictatorship once and for all, saying there is unprecedented unity between the old and new generations and different groups, while also praising the new generation’s bravery and intellectual approach to the revolution. [caption id=«attachment_127148» align=«aligncenter» width=«2016»] Ko Jimmy meets then US Ambassador to Myanmar Scot Marciel.[/caption] “If we continue forward like this, I believe, we will definitely win,” he said. Do you wanna write history with bullets saying the winner is right? You will only achieve this if this generation of students is gone. Do you wanna write history with artillery? You will only achieve this if the sky stops raining. Only the right shall win. — From a popular speech by Ko Jimmy

Two-and-a-half years after Min Aung Hlaing unveiled his plan to create a metro rail system and launch fleets of electric buses in Myanmar, the junta boss has called the country’s troubled power supply a challenge to his regime. Addressing a meeting with cabinet members of his regime on Tuesday, the junta leader admitted that current production can’t even meet half of domestic demand, as Myanmar has experienced serious power outages since the coup. He told the meeting that the country would have no power outages if suspended mega electricity projects had been implemented, according to attendees of the meeting, referring to suspended projects like the China-backed Myitsone Dam Project. When his speech was reported in the junta’s propaganda papers, the reports did not refer specifically to the Myitsone Dam Project, simply citing the junta leader as saying that the suspension of hydropower projects that were initiated some 10 years ago was to blame for power outages. The US$3.6-billion project was shelved by then-President Thein Sein in September 2011 amid widespread public concern over the dam’s social and environmental impacts, upsetting China. Min Aung Hlaing reportedly told the Tuesday meeting that if the Myitsone hydropower plant was operating today, it would be able to satisfy around 90 percent of national requirements, according to attendees. The dam project agreement was signed in 2009 under the previous military government led by Than Shwe. Under the original deal, China’s state-owned China Power Investment Corporation was to own 80 percent of the project, the Myanmar government 15 percent and Myanmar-based Asia World the rest. Min Aung Hlaing’s mentioning of the dam at the meeting on Tuesday marked the second time the regime has expressed interest in the Myitsone project. In May, Major General Yang Yang, acting director-general of the Intelligence Bureau of the Joint Staff Department of China’s Central Military Commission, met the junta’s No. 2 official, Soe Win, for talks on “cooperation between the two armies.” During the meeting, Soe Win reportedly proposed a resumption of the dam project, prompting speculation that the regime is desperate for further endorsement from Beijing, including an official invitation for Min Aung Hlaing to visit China. It’s unclear whether Min Aung Hlaing’s raising of the issue is a sign that he is gearing up to resume the project—both to cover the country’s insufficient electricity supply and to win Beijing’s endorsement of his junta. Currently, the dam project is in limbo, though Beijing often suggested resuming the project under the now ousted National League for Democracy government. Faced with sanctions from Western countries, Myanmar’s military regime has invited more Chinese investments in Myanmar. Among the investment projects are three wind power projects in Rakhine State. The junta’s electricity minister also flew to Yunnan and invited the provincial government and Chinese investors to invest in Myanmar’s electricity sector. Min Aung Hlaing’s plan to generate electricity from hydropower, solar power and wind and coal as well as nuclear technology with help from China and Russia has so far borne no fruit, and as such the junta leader has repeatedly asked Myanmar people not to waste energy. Meanwhile, the junta is able to provide only a few hours of electricity per day in the country and Min Aung Hlaing has sacked two electricity ministers so far.

Three protesters were arrested in Sagaing Region’s Monywa Township on Tuesday evening after regime forces opened fire on six young activists commemorating the 35th anniversary of the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. The six activists arrived by car on Pyi Htaung Su Road for a small flash-mob protest. Seven regime personnel in civilian clothes opened fire on them, but three escaped, according to the Monywa People’s Strike Committee. “The three who escaped were not harmed,” a committee spokesperson told The Irrawaddy. “We heard that only one of those arrested was injured,” the spokesperson added. The fate of the three arrested activists remains unknown. Tuesday marked the 35th anniversary of the nationwide 1988 pro-democracy uprising in Myanmar. The day in August 1988 still stands as a turning point in Myanmar’s history—a day that marked the emergence of a full-fledged democracy movement that managed to topple the regime led by General Ne Win. Although the regime was ousted, a new junta seized power. The day defines Myanmar’s ongoing struggle to topple successive military dictatorships and replace them with democracy. Protests were also held in Sagaing, Magwe, Tanintharyi and Yangon regions on Tuesday to mark the 35th anniversary of the uprising. In Yangon, youths staged a Umbrella Movement protest by raising red umbrellas adorned with the Burmese digit “8” and the slogan “Revolutionary flames are still burning.” Another anti-regime protest was held on the Sule Pagoda overpass in central Yangon by members of the Democratic Party for a New Society and Youth for a New Society. The hanged black T-shirts emblazoned with the Burmese digit “8” from the railings of the overpass to commemorate the anniversary of the uprising. Flash mob protests have become a regular form of protest against the regime. They are usually conducted by small groups of youths. They started in Yangon, the country’s largest city, and have spread to other regions and states.

Two pupils, their father and two teachers at an online school run by the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) in opposition to military rule remain in junta detention after Myanmar's regime arrested them more than a week ago. Among the detainees are two children aged around eight and 14, their father U Kyaw Min Htay, who is a striking employee of Myanma Railways from Sagaing town, and two striking teachers, Daw Myint Myint Than and U Wai Yan Min Htike from Mandalay, who ran the online Bright Future Federal School. They were detained on July 27. «They were detained because someone informed the regime,» said U Nay Phone Latt, the NUG spokesman. «Children have the right to choose what type of learning they want to receive. Arresting children attending an NUG-linked school harms children's right to learn freely. It is a violation of the right to education, which is unacceptable.» Pro-junta Telegram channels reported that the two sisters' phones were used for learning at the NUG's online school. The channels last month called on the regime to check if private schools in Mandalay employ striking teachers and take action against schools with NUG links. [caption id=«attachment_127131» align=«aligncenter» width=«1280»] From left, civil disobedience movement teacher U Wai Yan Min Htike, striking Myanma Railways employee U Kyaw Min Htay and teacher Daw Myint Myint Than[/caption] A Sagaing resident said: «Soldiers came in military vehicles to Ywar Htaung ward and made the arrests. At first, we thought the man was arrested because he is a striker from Myanma Railways. But we heard it was because his two children attended an NUG-run online school. It is an unlawful act to arrest someone for learning. It is an act of extrajudicial bullying to arrest children.» The NUG has told teachers and pupils to go into hiding and keep their learning secret. Teachers who joined the civil disobedience movement following the 2021 coup have opened schools for families that reject education under the junta. While most schools are online, in some parts of Sagaing Region and ethnic-minority areas where resistance forces have replaced the junta administration, children can study in community schools. «The regime has been using various ways to arrest and threaten teachers. Some were killed. But we continue to provide our services to the people while ensuring their safety,» said U Nay Phone Latt. On July 17, a junta court inside Mandalay's Obo Prison sentenced teacher Daw Ei Shwe Sin Myint to 20 years in prison for running an online school opposed to military rule. Along with her, 14 teachers aged between 20 and 40 from the Federal School of Aungmyaythazan were arrested in March last year. The fate of 14 other teachers is unknown. The regime tries to stop striking teachers working at private schools and has required schools to issue lists of their teachers and their addresses.

At his very first meeting with regime ministers on Monday since the cabinet reshuffle earlier this month, junta leader Min Aung Hlaing repeated his call for efforts to restore stability and law and order in the country, again blaming ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) and People’s Defense Force groups (PDFs) for the instability he said has inevitably delayed the election he plans to hold. Just a week ago, when the junta boss extended military rule for another six months at the National Defense and Security Council meeting on July 31, Min Aung Hlaing also pointed a finger at EAOs and PDFs, accusing them of forcing him to postpone the vote, which he had previously promised would be held this month. On Monday, Min Aung Hlaing reiterated that the ultimate goal of his regime, which calls itself the State Administration Council, is to hold a free and fair election. Governments around the world have publicly expressed doubts that any voting held by the regime would be legitimate. “Such interruptions will hinder the development of the country and the people, and also delay the election,” Min Aung Hlaing told the cabinet meeting on Monday, referring to the resistance movement against his regime. Again, the junta boss did not present a timeline for his proposed election. The junta leader called for expediting efforts to restore stability and law and order in areas experiencing “terrorist attacks.” The regime has labeled the parallel National Unity Government and its armed wing, the PDF, as terrorist organizations. At a meeting of his regime’s cabinet on July 13, Min Aung Hlaing also called for increased security operations in Sagaing Region as well as Chin and Kayah states, which he described as hotbeds of terrorism. At the NDSC meeting on July 31, he also repeated an earlier admission that the regime does not have full control of the country, saying it is struggling to gain control in Sagaing, Magwe, Bago and Tanintharyi regions as well as Karen, Kayah, Chin and Mon states, because of the PDFs and EAOs. Nearly 50 townships in Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing and Magwe regions and Chin and Kayah states remain under martial law. The state of emergency was initially declared in February 2021 when the military ousted the democratically elected government of the National League for Democracy led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The country’s constitution states that an emergency can be declared for an initial period of one year and can “normally” be extended for a maximum of two half-year terms at the discretion of the military-dominated NDSC. However, Min Aung Hlaing has extended emergency rule twice beyond the “maximum of two years”, thereby breaching the charter. Observers say he will maintain his grip on power, using “instability” as an excuse. The first military coup in Myanmar took place in 1962. Myanmar was under military rule for 28 years before a general election was held in 1990. The NLD won a landslide victory, but the Myanmar military refused to accept the results, and held power for another 20 years until 2010.

President Joko Widodo, current ASEAN chair, said the bloc's efforts to solve the crisis would continue along the lines of its Five Point Consensus.

The UN’s Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar said the military and allied militias are ‘committing increasingly frequent and brazen war crimes’.

Overwhelming monsoon rains and flash floods have battered three states in Myanmar since Sunday, killing at least two people in Rakhine State and causing sections of the Asia Highway to collapse in Karen State, according to local sources. [caption id=«attachment_127086» align=«aligncenter» width=«2048»] A section of the Asia Highway destroyed by a landslide in Karen State’s Myawaddy Township on Monday. / CJ[/caption] Flooding inundated three townships in Rakhine State—Mrauk-U, Minbya and Kyauktaw—killing at least two people in Minbya Township. “A woman and her daughter were swept away by a stream’s current on Sunday,” a local volunteer said. At least 60 villages in Mrauk-U Township have been inundated by heavy rainfall, residents say. “Our crop fields were damaged by floods again. We’re still not completely back on track after Cyclone Mocha. Most of us are poor and running low on food. So, we would like to ask for donations of food supplies if possible,” a resident of Shauk Pon Kyun Village said. The village on the west bank of the Lemro River has about 135 homes. On Sunday, more than 1,100 people from Myatasaung camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Mrauk-U Township were evacuated to Myatasaung monastery, its abbot said. “They have been here for three days now. Most are day laborers and they don’t have a regular income. We need urgent food supplies for them,” he said. Space is so limited that three families have to share a single small room, the abbot said. In northern Mrauk-U, about 4,000 people from seven IDP camps will need to be evacuated if the downpours continue tomorrow. “It has been pouring heavily for eight days. If it continues to rain another day, we will need to evacuate people from seven camps,” a spokesperson from Tein Nyo IDP camp said on Tuesday. The camp is one of the most crowded IDP camps in northern Mrauk-U, with about 2,900 people. Twelve of the 17 IDP camps in Mrauk-U face the gravest threats because they are in low-lying areas. In Karen State, non-stop rain and flash flooding caused landslides on the Asia Highway between Myawaddy and Kawkariek townships on Monday. The highway is a major trade route between Myanmar and Thailand. Some of its elevated sections collapsed, disrupting trade and transportation. Many trucks were stranded along the highway and at least two sections of it were destroyed by landslides, but there were no reports of casualties. [caption id=«attachment_127087» align=«aligncenter» width=«1600»] Karen State’s capital Hpa-an on Tuesday. / Karen National Media[/caption] “Prices will skyrocket due to collapses on the Asia Highway. It will take nearly a month to repair it,” a resident of Myawaddy said. Myawaddy and Hpa-an towns have also been inundated by flooding, residents say. Flooding in Mon Sate has disrupted transportation since last Friday after several sections of the Mawlamyine-Yangon Highway were submerged. “We had to pull a small car [out] after it was swept away by floodwater yesterday,” a volunteer said. Rescue operations are continuing in Bilin Township on Tuesday as the level of the Bilin River rose above the danger level. At least 1,000 people remain displaced and are taking shelter at seven camps as a result of flooding in Bilin Township since early August, residents say.

Chinese mining firm Wanbao, which is operating copper mines in Salingyi Township, Sagaing Region, has seized neighboring farmland. The company has fenced-off farms in old Wethmay village to the east of the mining compound. The village is inside the Letpadaung mining area originally proposed by the company but farmers refused to move or accept compensation from Wanbao. Bo Sitt Naing, a leader of a resistance force in Salingyi, told The Irrawaddy: «Wanbao has so far fenced off land from its electricity office to Tone Alel village through Old Wethmay village. It originally planned to fence off those places but there were disputes with residents. Some riots stopped expansion but now it seems the company might fence off all the four villages.» The company has designated Wethmay, Sete, Zeetaw and Kantaw villages as part of the Letpadaung copper mine. Residents were offered compensation for their land. But some 30 households in Wethmay village refused to accept compensation and have continued to live in their village. In partnership with the military-owned Myanma Economic Holdings Ltd, Wanbao and its two subsidiaries, Myanmar Wanbao Mining Copper Ltd and Myanmar Yang Tse Copper Ltd, runs three copper mines – Letpadaung, Sabetaung and Kyesintaung – in Salingyi Township. Letpadaung is the biggest of the three. Those mines have long been a source of public fury for destroying the environment and seizing people's land. For many years, the Letpadaung mine has made headlines due to land disputes and a series of violent crackdowns against anti-mine protesters. As Wanbao is fencing off villages, junta troops are raiding villages to the east of the mining project. Following a resistance attack on a police station in Nyaungbingyi village by the Chindwin River to the east of the copper mine on June 9, the regime has brought in more troops and has been raiding villages. Junta troops have burnt some 75 percent of houses in Nyaungbingyi. The raids have displaced around 1,000 residents from Nyaungnabin and neighboring villages. Junta troops deployed at the mine to provide security for the Chinese firm have also been involved in raids and have shelled villages. Resistance forces have responded by firing mortars at the compound. Wanbao is a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned defense firm China North Industries Corporation. In July 2021, the US sanctioned Wanbao Mining and its entities for supporting Myanmar's regime and also banned the trade of copper from the mines on the London Metal Exchange. Following the 2021 coup, the regime put its share of copper from Wanbao-operated mines out to tender. Around 10,000 metric tonnes were sold, earning the regime millions of US dollars. A report by Publish What You Pay Australia — a coalition of 30 organizations campaigning for transparency and accountability in the extractive industries — said Chinese-backed mines were financially propping up the junta. The report, How Chinese Mining Investment Funds Myanmar Military, released in November 2021, said the Chinese-run Letpadaung, Sabetaung, Kyesintaung and Tagaung Taung mines in Sagaing paid an estimated US$725 million to the military during the 2020-21 financial year. Wanbao said it has suspended operations since the coup. Some staff have also gone on strike in response to China's perceived support for the regime. Despite the announced suspension, the company has many tonnes of copper in stock, with the regime continuing to receive benefits from the Chinese firm, said Bo Sitt Naing. «They have many tonnes of copper that they had mined previously and have kept in their compound. They have been exploiting the country's resources in cooperation with dictators. China only focuses on its interests. If it only focuses on its interests without sympathy for people, confrontation is needed,» he said.

The Kachin Independence Army said it has overrun two regime strongholds and one held by its Shan Nationalities Army allies.

Myanmar's civilian Nation Unity Government (NUG) claims 3,012 junta soldiers were killed and 4,021 wounded during clashes with its armed wings and ethnic rebel allies in the first half of 2023. A total of 935 clashes were reported between junta forces and the NUG’s People’s Defense Forces and allied ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) from January to June, said the NUG’s Defense Ministry. The clashes saw PDF groups and allied EAO forces seize more than 30 junta bases, including 10 in Kayah State, six in Sagaing Region, and 19 in the lower part of the country, said U Maung Maung Swe, deputy secretary of NUG’s Defense Ministry, in a video briefing about the armed revolution on Monday. Resistance groups also seized 15 police stations and 10 outposts of the junta’s border guard forces, as well as 14 bases of the pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia. Resistance groups conducted about 255 drone strikes on junta bases and regime targets. In the clashes, resistance forces also seized 203 military-grade weapons along with over 30,000 rounds and nearly 800 explosive devices. [caption id=«attachment_127077» align=«aligncenter» width=«1600»] Military weapons and equipment seized by PDFs and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) after occupying a junta outpost on Lat Khat Taung mountain in Myawaddy Township, Karen State on July 21.  /Cobra Column[/caption] The Irrawaddy was unable to independently confirm the NUG’s claims. The Defense Ministry did not reveal resistance casualties, but numerous resistance fighters were also reported killed during clashes and regime raids over the same period. In Kayah State alone, 667 regime troops and 99 resistance fighters were killed in 222 clashes between January and July, said the Progressive Karenni People Force (PKPF), an ethnic rights group monitoring regime atrocities in the state. During the same period, the junta responded with 338 airstrikes on civilian and resistance targets in the state. The Defense Ministry also said resistance groups attacked five junta airbases in Yangon, Bago, Mandalay and Magwe Regions while conducting 12 attacks on seven junta weapons factories in upper Myanmar. Resistance groups also conducted 13 bombings on facilities of five military divisions, including the headquarters of Northwest and Southeast military commands, according to the Defense Ministry. “Since the start of 2023, even regime forces in the bases of military commands and divisions feel insecure as their bases have become battlefields due to our attacks,” said U Maung Maung Swe. He added that PDFs and EAOs plan to launch more assaults on regime bases soon. The junta is currently suffering losses on a daily basis as PDFs and EAOs groups continue their attacks on regime targets. The regime is simultaneously facing escalating attacks by EAOs in Shan and Kachin states after attempting to take more control of territory since late June.  

Eight members of the civilian government’s People’s Security Force (PSF) in Magwe Region’s Saw Township have been arrested for allegedly raping a woman at least 24 times while she was in the township’s jail for theft. The eight men, who were guards at the jail, began raping the woman in the last week of April and continued to rape her in June. The alleged crimes occurred at a jail in Saw Township that was controlled by the local PSF, according to the township’s People’s Authority. The eight men have admitted raping the woman while they were guarding the jail, local officials say. Kyi Soe Tun, the leader of the township’s People’s Authority, said the suspects would be punished appropriately. “The perpetrators won’t be allowed to walk free. It will take some time to prosecute them in line with [judicial] procedures [but] they will receive fitting punishments,” he said. “They won’t wind up with light punishment just because they are on the same side as us,” he added, referring to the National Unity Government (NUG). When the repeated rapes first came to light, the head of the People’s Authority in a suburb of Saw Township settled the crime by giving 600,000 kyats (about US$ 200) in compensation to the woman who had been raped repeatedly by eight men. She was also appointed to the local PSF. Local residents who objected to the way the crime was handled filed a complaint with the Saw Township People’s Authority. Seven of the PSF jail guards were arrested on June 28 and the eighth was arrested on July 31. The woman they admitted to raping had moved to Saw Township from Yangon about four years ago. She was impoverished and turned to theft to survive, local officials said. She was arrested for theft and jailed by the township's PSF. The eight jail guards repeatedly raped her from the last week of April into May. They have admitted raping the woman,” Kyi Soe Tun said. "She was raped at least three or four times from the last week of April into May,” he added. Kyi Soe Tun denied, however, that she had been “gang raped.” He blamed the initial failure to bring the alleged rapists to justice on the chief of a suburban People’s Authority in Saw Township, saying the official had overstepped his authority to handle a crime that was not under his jurisdiction. A complaint has been filed with the civilian National Unity Government against the official, Kyi Soe Tun said. NUG spokesman U Nay Phone Latt said that local authorities had “handled the case on their own, and failed to inform those higher-up.” “We will punish them if they violated procedures,” he added. PSFs are under the command of the NUG. They provide law enforcement at the village and township levels. Seven of the alleged rapists were new PSF recruits and were still in their probationary period. One had finished his probationary period. The eight suspects are being held in the township prison and have been suspended from the PSF. The woman is receiving care from the township People’s Authority. According to a June 17 report from the Burmese Women’s Union, a total of 59 rapes were reported since the 2021 coup. Most were committed by members of the military regime, but resistance forces were responsible for four of the reported rapes. Rape is an under reported crime globally, but extensive research has documented that the crime surges during armed conflict.

Myanmar regime troops launched airstrikes in Sagaing Region’s Pale Township after suffering heavy casualties in a resistance ambush on Monday, according to local resistance group Myanmar’s Royal Dragon Army (MRDA). More than 80 regime soldiers were attacked by the MRDA between the villages of Kyay Nin Gyi and Kyaung Than on Monday morning after leaving Zee Phu Kone, a village controlled by pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia. The MRDA said 10 junta soldiers were killed in the clash, which lasted for about two and a half hours. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the casualty claim. “After suffering heavy casualties, they called in a jet fighter, which bombed the clash area three times. However, no civilians or resistance members were injured by the airstrike,” MRDA spokesperson Ko Naung Yoe told The Irrawaddy. The dead and wounded soldiers were taken to a junta outpost at the monastery in Kyay Nin Gyi village. Kyay Nin Gyi and Kyaung Than are located 4 kilometers from Pale town. Around 3,000 civilians from seven villages in the area fled after the regime conducted the airstrike, according to the Pale Township People's administration. The administration issued security alerts that junta troops were still in the township. Accommodation and food for displaced villagers is being provided by an alliance of People’s Defense Forces and other local organizations. On Sunday, the MRDA also attacked a junta convoy of military vessels on the Chindwin River in Salingyi Township, Sagaing Region.

East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has said the country would reconsider its goal of joining the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) if the bloc is unable to find a resolution to the conflict in Myanmar. He was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying his country, which is also known as Timor-Leste, “will not be joining the ASEAN if ASEAN cannot convince the military junta in Myanmar [to end the conflict].” Late last year, leaders from the bloc agreed «in principle» to admit the island state as its 11th member. Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has turned a deaf ear to repeated calls by ASEAN for his regime to implement the Five-Point Consensus the bloc agreed on two years ago. East Timor has shown support for Myanmar’s anti-regime movement. On July 1, Dili officially invited Myanmar’s civilian National Unity Government (NUG) to the swearing-in of the new East Timor government, and at last year’s United Nations General Assembly, the Timorese president asked world leaders why they were not helping Myanmar the way they are helping Ukraine. The invitation to the July swearing-in ceremony—at which the East Timor president even accepted a portrait of jailed civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from NUG Foreign Minister Daw Zin Mar Aung—made East Timor the first country to invite the NUG to a national-level event as the legitimate government of Myanmar. Angered by the move, the junta’s Foreign Ministry on July 5 summoned the chargé d’affaires at East Timor’s embassy in Yangon to Naypyitaw and complained about the invitation. The ministry told the diplomat the junta considers the NUG a terrorist organization, and that invitation to or communication with NUG representatives “abets terrorism and encourages violence in the country, and infringes international agreements related to combating terrorism.” The ministry also called on the East Timor government to refrain from making any form of contact with such “terrorist groups” and their representatives. Far from being deterred, on July 6, East Timor’s prime minister invited Daw Zin Mar Aung for another meeting. And East Timor again vocally criticized the regime after Min Aung Hlaing extended military rule for another six months on July 31. The former Portuguese colony was occupied by Indonesia for more than two decades. In 2002, it became a sovereign state following a UN-sponsored popular referendum.

The regime is fighting a losing war, with no viable strategy in the face of an increasingly organized uprising and public outrage over atrocities.

Myanmar’s two major anti-regime umbrella organizations have categorically rejected any compromise in their political goal of eradicating the military dictatorship and establishing a federal democratic union, following the junta’s recent attempts to split the country’s anti-regime movement. In a joint statement laying out the “common position” of anti-regime organizations on Sunday, the country’s parallel National Unity Government (NUG) and its advisory body, the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC), stressed that the ultimate goal of their fight against the junta “is not mere regime change” but the establishment of a federal union. “To achieve the ultimate goal [building a federal union], we strongly believe that it’s necessary not only to wipe out the military dictatorship but the military’s involvement in the country’s politics and its tendency to stage coups,” it said. The NUG was formed by elected lawmakers from the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government and their ethnic allies in the wake of the military takeover in 2021 with a vision of building a federal democratic union in Myanmar after rooting out the military dictatorship. Its armed wing, the network of People’s Defense Force groups (PDFs), has been waging war—alongside some ethnic armed organizations (EAOs)—against the regime across the country. Many people in Myanmar consider the NUG their legitimate government and the PDF groups as their army. The NUCC is a coalition council that defines the NUG’s overall objectives and strategy. Its members include the NUG’s parliamentary wing, the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), some of Myanmar’s established EAOs, ethnic political parties and civil society organizations, among others. The statement from the NUG and NUCC follows disinformation campaigns launched by the regime last month claiming that the country’s ousted and detained popular leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi doesn’t support the NUG and its associates in their fight against the regime. As the leader of the NLD government ousted by the military coup in 2021, she has been detained by the regime since the first day of the takeover. Rumors have also been circulating that a military-guided transitional government would be formed under the leadership of some former military generals to pave the way for a political “dialogue” between the regime and opposition forces. Both the disinformation campaigns and the rumors of a transitional government emerged after Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s meeting with Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai in July. While it is still not known exactly what she said during the meeting, Don told the media that she encouraged dialogue. Observers see the campaigns and the speculation about a transitional government as the junta’s attempt to drive a wedge between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and anti-regime resistance stakeholders, including the NUG and most Myanmar people, who are determined to topple the military dictatorship by any means necessary. Daw Zin Mar Aung, the NUG’s foreign minister, told The Irrawaddy that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would always stand with the people as she has promised, and offered a reminder that the popular leader is also the State Counselor of the NUG. Against this backdrop, the NUG and NUCC said in their statement Sunday: “We embrace and agree to these goals [to establish a federal union] and categorically reject any and all political moves that should deviate us from the vision and values we have determined for a new era and a new system.” They added that they will mandate and implement transitional justice mechanisms to address human rights violations and war crimes committed not only by the current regime but also previous regimes, and their atrocities against ethnic nationalities, in order to prevent further such violations. The statement described the NUG and NUCC’s vision of establishing a “Federal Union Army” comprising various ethnic nationalities to defend against external threats. The army would be unconditionally under the control of a civilian government. They also pledged to continue their fight “without turning back… hand-in-hand with the people of all ethnic groups across the country” and “fully guaranteeing political processes towards building a federal democratic union, and with collective leadership and collective responsibility on the basis of equality, until we have achieved our ultimate goal.” Padoh Saw Taw Nee, the external affairs chief of the Karen National Union (KNU), one of Myanmar’s oldest and most powerful ethnic armed groups, said the NUG and NUCC’s stand is the same as the KNU’s when it comes to toppling the dictatorship, according to Karen National Media. The KNU’s armed wings, the Karen National Liberation Army and the Karen National Defense Organization, are fighting alongside the NUG’s PDFs. “Our view is clear. Any kind of dictatorship, including military, must be wiped out from our country,” he said.

Mining suspension in autonomous region likely to remain in place until new safety and environmental rules are met.

The United States says it will start blocking transactions with the military-controlled Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank.

Junta airstrikes killed at least two resistance fighters in eastern Kayah State as regime troops attempted to seize Mese Town near the border with Thailand, according to local resistance forces. At least two members of the Karenni Army were killed by aerial bombing of resistance targets on Saturday, according to the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF). Fierce fighting has continued to rage in Mase and Hpaswang townships since last month when the junta sent heavy reinforcements to Kayah State in an attempt to regain lost territory. Mese Town was seized by allied resistance forces after the Karenni National People’s Liberation Front, a local border guard force, joined the resistance in June. At least 9,000 residents of the state remained displaced in Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province as of July 17, according to the United Nations. Since Wednesday, another junta column has clashed with combined resistance forces on Demoso-Hpruso Road in an attempt to safeguard their convoy of reinforcements and food supplies for their bases in Hpruso Township. At least 84 junta soldiers and two KNDF fighters were killed during the clashes in July, the KNDF said on Saturday. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the numbers. Junta warplanes conducted at least 42 airstrikes in the state in July, killing at least four civilians, including one child, and wounding eight more people, according to the KNDF. It also said eight civilians lost their lives and 14 more were injured by indiscriminate shelling and extrajudicial killings by the regime in July.

A general responsible for the massacre of 29 civilians in Ye-U Township, Sagaing Region, last year has been promoted to the chief of Myanmar military’s Southern Command in Bago Region. Then Brigadier General Kyi Thike was appointed head of the 4th Military Operations Command based in Hpugyi, Yangon Region, in February 2021 following the military coup. His troops killed civilians and torched houses in Sagaing, a hotbed of the resistance movement. He is now a major general. Amid pressures following the massacre of 29 civilians in Mon Taing Pin village in Ye-U Township by his Light Infantry Battalion 708 in May last year, Kyi Thike was transferred to head the Bayintnaung army combat training school in Thantaunggyi, Taungoo District. The civilian National Unity Government has accused the LIB commander Lieutenant Colonel Tun Lin Aung and his boss, Kyi Thike, of ordering the massacre. Some nine months after the massacre in Mon Taing Pin village, the battalion headed by Lt-Col Tun Lin Aung carried out raids from February to early April this year. Calling themselves the ‘Ogre Colum’, junta soldiers raided resistance bases and villages in Ayadaw, Myinmu, Sagaing and Myaung townships in Sagaing Region and Yesagyo Township in Magwe Region. In a series of raids,  junta soldiers slaughtered civilians and resistance fighters. Some were beheaded and women were raped. Nearly 50 people, including resistance fighters, were killed in the raids. Kyi Thike has succeeded Major General Htein Win as Southern Command chief, said a military source, after Htein Win was promoted to lieutenant general to head of armed forces training. Military observers suggest that junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has transferred his loyalist Kyi Thike to suppress the rising resistance movement in Bago Region.

At least 26 Myanmar junta troops as well as a resistance fighter were killed in the last four days as People’s Defense Force groups (PDFs) and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) continued to attack regime targets across the country. Incidents were reported in Shan and Kayah states and Sagaing, Mandalay and Bago regions. The Irrawaddy has collected the following reports of significant attacks from PDFs and EAOs. Some military casualties could not be independently verified. Junta renews clashes with another rebel group in Shan [caption id=«attachment_127023» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] Shan State Army troops / SSPP Info[/caption] Fierce clashes between regime forces and the Shan State Army (SSA), the armed wing of the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP), resumed at two locations in Laikho Township, Shan State on Sunday when the junta conducted offensives against the resistance bases, said the SSPP. First, a clash broke out near Nant Pauk Village in the township, when 70 junta troops raided an SSPP base. Later that morning, SSA fighters attacked troops of military Light Infantry Battalion 573 stationed in Matlang Village in the township. Details of casualties for both sides were unknown. In the days leading up to the clashes, regime forces shelled SSPP areas in the township. The junta has repeatedly demanded that the SSPP move its 10 bases out of Laikho Township, but the group has refused. Junta soldiers gunned down by resistance snipers in Sagaing  Resistance snipers ambush a military flotilla on the Chindwin River on Saturday. / Chaung U Revolution Army Chaung U Revolution Army said at least three regime forces were gunned down in Chaung-U Township, Sagaing Region on Saturday when it and other resistance groups used sniper rifles to ambush a military flotilla of five vessels on the Chindwin River. Ten improvised heavy weapons were also used to attack the vessels. The flotilla responded indiscriminately with 40-mm and 60-mm explosives. Military flotilla ambushed in Sagaing  Resistance groups engage a military flotilla on the Chindwin River in Salingyi Township on Saturday. / MRDA Ten more regime soldiers were killed and some injured in Salingyi Township, Sagaing Region on Saturday when several resistance groups ambushed a military flotilla of five vessels including two gunboats on the Chindwin River, said Myanmar’s Royal Dragon Army (MRDA), which coordinated the attack. The flotilla was reportedly transporting aviation fuel. After being ambushed, the flotilla stopped at the port of Monywa town. Several resistance groups ambushed the flotilla along the Chindwin River in Sagaing Region on Saturday. Military unit besieged in Sagaing  Combined resistance forces clash with a military unit of 50 troops in Shwebo Township last week. / MDF (Shwebo) At least five regime forces were killed and three injured in Shwebo Township, Sagaing Region in the past week when local resistance groups besieged a military detachment for six days, said Myanmar Defense Force (Shwebo), which joined the attack. On July 29, a military unit of 50 troops from the pro-regime village of Myin Chin arrived at Seik Khun Village, where they had been newly stationed. Starting July 30, more than a dozen resistance groups from various Sagaing townships cut off and launched a sustained attack on the regime forces in the village lasting six days. At the time they came under attack, the junta troops were preparing to go out and raid nearby villages. Last Thursday, the military unit secretly attempted to return to its base in Myin Chin, but was chased down and attacked by resistance forces. A resistance fighter was killed in the clash. Junta-run township administration office raided in upper Sagaing [caption id=«attachment_127022» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] A resistance member of The Secret Warrior Kawlin based in Kawlin / SWK[/caption] Some regime troops were injured in Kawlin town, upper Sagaing Region on Saturday when Kawlin District PDF Battalion 1 raided regime forces stationed at the junta-controlled township General Administration Department office, said the resistance group. Junta troops killed in drone strike in Mandalay  Resistance groups conduct drone strikes and ambushes on regime targets in Natogyi Township last Thursday. Natogyi PDF said it and four other resistance groups used a drone to drop a bomb on regime forces in Phaung Chin Village in Natogyi Township last Thursday. On the same day, the groups dropped four drone bombs on regime forces from Suu Phyu Kone Village while the troops were going out to scour the forest for resistance camps. Firearms were also used to ambush the junta troops. Five regime forces were killed and four injured, said Natogyi PDF. Junta forces ambushed in Bago [caption id=«attachment_127021» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] Resistance snipers from a joint PDF/KNU force in the south of Myanmar / Special Operation Force[/caption] A junta soldier was killed in Phyu Township, Bago Region on Saturday when snipers from a joint group comprising members of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)—the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU)—and a PDF group ambushed regime forces guarding a bridge over the Sittaung River near Oak Phyat Village, according to the Defense Ministry of the civilian National Unity Government (NUG). Clash erupts in Bago Four regime forces were killed and four injured in Kyauktaga Township, Bago Region last Thursday when KNLA and PDF groups attacked a military unit raiding Thamin Kone Village at 4 a.m., said the NUG’s Defense Ministry. On that afternoon, a military unit stationed in nearby Thahtay Kone Village shelled Thamin Kone. A 16-year-old boy was killed when one of the junta explosives hit his house. Clashes continue in Kayah State [caption id=«attachment_127020» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] Karenni Nationalities Defense Force members clash with regime troops in Loikaw Township. / KNDF[/caption] The Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) said it and other resistance groups clashed with regime forces on the Mobye-Loikaw highway in Loikaw Township, Kayah State on Saturday after observing military movements in villages on the highway starting Thursday. People are urged to avoid regime bases due to potential clashes.

Ten junta soldiers were killed when resistance groups attacked a convoy of regime vessels, including three reportedly carrying jet fuel, on the Chindwin River in Salingyi Township, Sagaing Region, on Sunday, according to Myanmar’s Royal Dragon Army (MRDA). The MRDA and two other resistance forces combined to attack the convoy of two warships and three cargo vessels after it left Sin Phyu Shin bridge in Pakokku Township. A battleship was halted when it came under attack from grenades launched by the resistances force, said Ko Naung Yoe, a spokesperson of the MRDA. The clash lasted for around 30 minutes as the other vessels sought to protect the warship after it was hit by improvised grenade launchers, he said. “We heard that the convoy docked at Monywa Alone port and sent the injured soldiers to hospital. Ten soldiers were killed by our attack,” Ko Naung Yoe told The Irrawaddy. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the casualty report. “We learned that the vessels will continue toward Hkamti Township in upper Sagaing to deliver the jet fuel,” Ko Naung Yoe said. No civilians or resistance members were injured in the clash. The military convoy was docked at Monywa port till Sunday evening, according to the resistance force. Myanmar's military uses river routes to transport reinforcements to upper Sagaing and Kachin State. Combined resistance forces regularly attack military convoys along the routes. Last week, a convoy of regime vessels came under attack from resistance groups positioned on both sides of the Ayeyarwady River after it departed Mandalay City for Kachin State on July 26. Two vessels were destroyed in the attack, according to the resistance groups.

Hun Manet will officially assume the position after a vote by the rubber-stamp parliament on Aug. 22.

Also this week, the pariah regime reached out to Mideast and Africa, and extended military rule amid its failure to bring the country under control.

The Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) claimed to have defeated Myanmar regime forces during a clash in Muse Township, northern Shan State, on Wednesday. Over six hours of clashes broke out near Nar Htan and Gaung Yar villages in Muse near the Chinese border on Wednesday when four junta battalions and pro-regime militias attempted to raid TNLA bases, the ethnic minority group said. The powerful TNLA has been fighting for autonomy for the ethnic Palaung or Ta'ang people in northern Shan State. The regime troops retreated after suffering heavy losses, it said. The TNLA claimed 10 regime soldiers were killed and 13 injured. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports. The group submitted photos of seized regime weapons and a large quantity of ammunition. Citing residents, Shan News reported that two civilians suffered injuries in shelling during Wednesday's clash. Over 200 residents fled their homes, it said. The TNLA said nine clashes with regime forces broke out in the area between July 23 to August 2, in which 25 regime soldiers were killed and 27 injured, while a junta soldier was detained alive. The rebel group did not reveal its own losses.

Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has reshuffled his cabinet, including changes to the key posts of defense minister and home affairs minister, days after extending emergency rule in Myanmar for another six months on Monday. The cabinet remains dominated by generals. The shakeup sees the Home Affairs Ministry portfolio pass from Lieutenant General Soe Htut to Lieutenant General Yar Pyae, who was previously the Union Government Office 1 minister, while General Tin Aung San takes over as defense minister, switching positions with General Mya Tun Oo, who takes over at the helm of the Transport and Communications Ministry. Both men will continue to serve concurrently as deputy prime ministers. The shakeups at the Defense and Home Affairs ministries were the first since Min Aung Hlaing grabbed power in a 2021 coup. They are the two ministries most responsible for countering the armed anti-regime resistance movement, which has rocked both urban areas and the countryside. Despite their efforts, more than two years on, the junta is still struggling to combat the unwavering resistance and has been unable to bring the country under its control. Analysts said this is likely one of the reasons behind the reshuffles of the ministries’ leaders. Soe Htut’s health may also be a factor, however, as he has long been rumored to suffer from cancer, and some speculated this could explain his transfer to an effectively inactive post like Union Government Office 1 minister. Meanwhile, new Home Affairs Minister Yar Pyae remains on the junta’s governing body, the State Administration Council (SAC). He also maintains his positions as national security adviser to Min Aung Hlaing and head of the junta’s peace negotiation team. His predecessor Lt-Gen Soe Htut concurrently served as deputy prime minister but will no longer hold the post. Yar Pyae was however not appointed a deputy prime minister. Min Aung Hlaing still leads the SAC, nine of whose 18 members are generals. The appointments of Tin Aung San and Yar Pyae to key positions came after Min Aung Hlaing told a meeting of the National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) on Monday that he would do whatever it takes to reassert control of the country. The regime has lost control of large swathes of the country to resistance forces. As part of the reshuffle, Foreign Minister Than Swe, tasked with defending Min Aung Hlaing on the international stage against critics of the junta’s atrocious human rights record, while also trying to ease the junta’s near isolation on the diplomatic front, was promoted to concurrently serve as a deputy prime minister. The International Cooperation Ministry, headed by junta apologist Ko Ko Hlaing, better known as “Candle” Ko Ko Hlaing for urging Myanmar people to use candles amid frequent blackouts in 2014, has been disbanded and Ko Ko Hlaing shunted off to head Union Government Office 2. Thet Thet Khine was replaced by Dr. Soe Win as social welfare minister and will take over as hotels and tourism minister. Thet Thet Khine, the chairwoman of the People’s Pioneer Party, was previously a lawmaker with the National League for Democracy, whose government the Myanmar military ousted in 2021. The reshuffle also saw deputy ministers appointed to the SAC Office, Agriculture and Livestock Ministry and Hotels and Tourism Ministry. Dr. Htein Lin Oo was appointed deputy legal affairs minister and deputy attorney-general. Chief Justice Tun Tun Oo was forced to resign on health grounds, making way for Thar Htay, chairman of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Union. U Aung Zaw Thein succeeds Thar Htay as the head of the tribunal. Naypyitaw Council Chairman Tin Oo Lwin, who was a classmate of Min Aung Hlaing at the Defense Services Academy, replaces Ko Ko as religious affairs and culture minister, while Than Tun Oo is the new chairman of the Naypyitaw Council. Electricity Minister Thaung Han was replaced by Nyan Tun, Energy Minister Myo Myint Oo by Ko Ko Lwin, and Labor Minister Dr. Pwint San by Myint Naung. Auditor-General Htay Aung was replaced by Sitt Aung, and Myanmar National Human Rights Commission chairman Hla Myint was replaced by Paw Lwin Sein. Ko Ko, who was sacked as religious affairs minister on Monday immediately after the consecration of the colossal marble Buddha statue built by Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw, was quoted by the BBC as saying, “I am in no mood for comment. I take it as normal.” Maung Ko and Dr. Aung Kyaw Min were forced to resign from the SAC, and were not appointed to any other body. Another SAC member, Dr. Kyaw Tun, was shunted off to the SAC central advisory body, which stands above the council in name only. An observer pointed out that Min Aung Hlaing has fallen into a pattern of boasting that his cabinet is full of able individuals up to the task of overcoming the country’s many difficulties and challenges, only to reshuffle them. The observer compared the junta boss to a card player who constantly loses and then reshuffles the deck.