The generals are not as thick-skinned as many assume; it is local rights groups and media organizations that most infuriate them, and who most deserve outside support.

The United Wa State Army (UWSA), Shan State Progress Party (SSPP), and National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) – members of an ethnic military coalition known as the Northern Alliance – held talks with junta representatives in Naypyitaw on July 20-21. In attendance were Major-General Yar Pyae, chair of the junta's National Solidarity and Peace Negotiation Committee (NSPNC); Luo Yaku, vice-chair of the UWSA’s United Wa State Party political wing; San Pae, NDAA vice-chair; and Sao Sae Paing Pha, SSPP central executive committee member. Junta newspapers reported that agreements were signed at the talks, but no details were provided. Colonel Sao Hsu, second secretary of the Shan State Progress Party, shed light on the agenda and outcomes of the talks in an interview with The Irrawaddy. What was discussed and what agreements were made with the regime?  We have held four rounds of talks with them so far, and signed agreements about our discussions after every meeting. This time, all the agreements that were reached in previous meetings were signed as a single agreement. They (the junta) proposed holding a peace conference. We said we would be unable to attend if it were held immediately. We would first have to get majority approval from our committee at headquarters. The regime proposed the conference, but we didn’t discuss it. Other things we discussed included regional development and peace and stability. Regional development was also discussed in our previous talks. The rest of the meeting was taken up by legal issues and the regime discussing the peace process. We neither spoke nor participated in that discussion. We didn’t talk politics. We consider this to be the job of political parties and Parliament. At present, there is no Parliament and political parties are not functioning. We only discussed how to avoid conflicts. The regime said it would combine its proposals in a draft and sign it. Did your groups sign any political agreement?  There was no political agreement. We neither negotiated nor signed political agreements. We mainly discussed how to avoid clashes. Our bases and checkpoints are very close to theirs in some areas. So, we asked them if they would move them away a little. We discussed nothing about politics at the Union level. Our Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee also has a policy (on this). We only discussed peace, regional stability and development in our areas. Why does the regime want the Northern Alliance to join peace talks?  It wants all the groups it has held talks and signed agreements with, as well as signatories of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, to join the peace conference. At meetings with the regime, we have also talked about what we want it to do. The regime has explained to us why it can’t fulfill certain things. We are conducting the talks based on our demand that political problems should be solved not by military means but peacefully around a table. The proposed peace conference will likely take time to organize. At the latest talks, the regime said agreements it has reached with us and other EAOs would be signed at the conference in the presence of political parties that have registered for its proposed election. We and the regime have different views about the proposed peace conference. But the regime appears determined to hold the conference anyway. We told them that only a few groups would attend if it were held now, and that it couldn’t be called a conference if only a few groups attended. Why have you rejected the peace conference proposal?  I haven’t said that we would not attend it. We will not attend it for now. We will wait and see. If the conference is at the national level, accepted by all, and beneficial to the country, no one will oppose it. But if it is a peace conference in name only, with no tangible outcome, we are not interested. What did your groups discuss on regional development at the meeting?  We discussed health, education, transportation and border development. But they could not give us answers immediately. We have suffered a civil war, and we want to secure development for our people. We don’t like the ongoing war and we want to stop it. We want to find a peaceful solution. We only resort to defending ourselves (militarily) when negotiation is completely impossible. Since the regime has regularly invited us to talks, we are engaging in talks. At previous meetings, the regime reportedly told your groups not to get involved with PDFs. Did it do so again at the latest meeting?  They didn’t talk about that this time.  

Fierce clashes continue raging in Kayah State’s Hpaswang and Loikaw townships since the junta sent in heavy reinforcements on July 21 to resume its counter-offensive in the first state to establish its own interim government body. Junta forces were supported by heavy shelling and airstrikes when fighting broke out near Kyauk Pe Nyo village Wednesday morning, residents of Hpaswang Township said. The Hpaswang People’s Defense Force (PDF) said fighting had been constant on the east bank of Than Lwin River since last week. Around 400 junta troops pushed further into Hpwaswang Township and resistance forces retreated from two villages about 48 kilometers from Mase town near the border with Thailand. Kyauk Pe Nyo and Wan Aung villages were seized by junta forces last week. A resistance member was killed during the battle, according to the Hpwaswang PDF. Local media reported on Wednesday that tensions remained high in Loikaw Township as about 300 junta troops were sent as reinforcements to Loikaw town, the state’s capital, on Monday. Another two junta convoys, each consisting of about 40 trucks, were also sent to Loikaw. Skirmishes broke out on Loikaw-Moebye Road and near Nwar La Woe village since July 21, according to resistance forces. The Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) accused the junta’s infantry on conducting indiscriminate shelling of civilian targets again. At least four villagers, including a pregnant woman and her child, were injured by shelling in Wan Kone village on Tuesday. Another artillery bombardment killed a 16-year-old boy and wounded two others in Pa Dar Ngay village on July 20. Two villagers including a child were wounded in Kone Thar village due to junta shelling, the KNDF said. Nwar La Woe residents were also forced to flee their homes when junta forces raided the village on July 23. The KNDF has become the junta’s most serious threat in the state bordering Naypyidaw. Although it was formed just two years ago, it has grown to 22 battalions with more than 7,000 troops. At least 1,000 people from four villages were displaced in Hpaswang Township, residents said. The United Nations in Myanmar estimates that at least 98,400 people have been displaced in Kayah State as of June 17, 2023. Local aid groups put the number at more than 270,000 people in Kayah State and neighbouring Pekon Township of southern Shan State. About 100,000 people are in urgent need of food and healthcare, they say.

Hunger is on the rise after two years of surging inflation and poor productivity blamed on junta mismanagement. 

A resistance group under the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) claims it inflicted heavy losses on junta soldiers during an ambush in Kyauktaga Township, Bago Region on Tuesday. Kyauktaga Township People’s Defense Force (Kyauktaga PDF) said it used land mines and firearms to ambush 40 junta soldiers who arrived at Nanza village in a truck and two motorbikes on Tuesday night. The resistance group also seized weapons during the attack. On Wednesday, resistance members discovered the bodies of seven junta soldiers along with six weapons and ammunition in the village after the regime force had retreated, said Kyauktaga PDF. The group said another seven junta soldiers were taken to Taungoo hospital after being seriously wounded during Tuesday’s ambush. The ambush came a week after two heavy clashes at Nanza village and nearby In Kone village on July 19. The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) – the armed wing of the country’s oldest rebel group, the Karen National Union (KNU) – joined with PDFs to attack two military units of 400 troops from four junta battalions, including police and pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia members, according to NUG and KNU statements. They claimed that the clashes killed 41 regime forces and wounded another 40 including a deputy battalion commander. The Irrawaddy was unable to independently confirm the casualty claims. The KNU said junta soldiers occupied Nanza village for four days until July 23, burning down 20 houses and looting residents’ furniture and livestock. A large quantity of ammunition left behind by regime troops was seized by the KNLA on July 24, according to the KNU. The KNLA and PDFs have escalated their coordinated attacks on junta bases and regime targets in Karen, and Mon States and Tanintharyi and Bago Regions.

More than 230 women and girls have been killed and nearly 400 detained by Myanmar’s regime this year, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), which monitors junta killings and arrests. The report said 237 females across the country had been killed this year by Wednesday with the resistance stronghold of Sagaing Region suffering the highest number of fatalities at 130. Bago Region reported 28 and Chin State 20. Wednesday’s report said 91 females were killed by regime airstrikes and 69 died in junta shelling. The Burmese Women’s Union said females were being burned to death and killed in junta custody this year besides being killed in bombardments. An AAPP representative said the rate of detentions and killings of women has significantly increased this year as regime troops raid and torch Sagaing villages, regardless of whether there has been fighting with resistance forces. “Women left behind in the village who could not flee became targets of the military. They were being killed, raped or used as human shields. The military targets women because they are active in the revolution,” the representative told The Irrawaddy. Kyar Khin Sein, the leader of Tiger Women Drone Force in Sagaing Region, said women are regularly raped and killed. “Regime soldiers give no leniency to women. They see all the people who don’t support them as resistance members so it is better for women to fight back,” Kyar Khin Sein told The Irrawaddy. Sagaing, Magwe and Bago regions and Chin, Kayah and Karen states are seeing the heaviest fighting with residents regularly threatened by junta ground troops, airstrikes and shelling. “We are always ready to run. We always listen for warplanes and ground troops. We fear shelling, which can hit us at any time,” a woman in Sagaing Region told The Irrawaddy. Targeting women has increased female involvement in the resistance movement to unprecedented levels in Myanmar, according to the AAPP. This year 394 women and girls have been detained across the country, including 75 in Sagaing Region, AAPP report said. Around 365 of the females remain in detention. Since the February 2021 coup, the regime has killed an estimated 3,848 people and detained 24,048, the AAPP reported on Wednesday.

Department store chain John Lewis and Partners will stop buying gems from Myanmar, Burma Campaign UK said.

Fighting has been reported since Sunday between Myanmar junta troops and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TLNA) in Muse Township near the Chinese border, killing at least two civilians. A volunteer in northern Shan State said Hseng Hkwang village was hit by junta airstrikes and indiscriminate bombardments on Tuesday. “Two villagers were killed and another injured in shelling. There were no civilian casualties reported during the airstrike,” a volunteer said. Hseng Hkwang, which had around 60 homes, has been abandoned since being shelled from a junta camp near Muse’s border trade zone. Last Sunday, fighting erupted between pro-junta paramilitaries and the TNLA near Sei Lant village, leaving at least two paramilitary troops dead, according to a volunteer group. “We heard gunfire and shelling at Sei Lant village on Sunday evening when we evacuated around seven teachers,” a volunteer said. There were no civilian casualties reported during the fighting, according to the group. Ta’ang State TV reported that three junta troops were killed and many others injured on Sunday. Tensions are high as junta reinforcements arrive from Muse town, according to the TLNA-controlled media. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports. On July 18, a 15-year-old died on the spot and three villagers, including a nine-year-old boy, were wounded in Zee Da Ban village during clashes between junta forces and the TNLA, according to a Kutkai Township volunteer group. Ta’ang State TV said at least four clashes have broken out in Muse and Kutkai townships this month.

More than 425 junta forces were killed in clashes with People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and ethnic revolutionary organizations in upper Myanmar last month, according to the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) that formed the PDFs. A total of 374 clashes—including 103 shootouts, 125 resistance raids and 74 resistance land-mine ambushes—were reported in June in the NUG’s Military Region 1, which comprises Sagaing, Magwe and Mandalay regions and northern Shan state, the civilian government’s Defense Ministry said. The junta responded with 26 airstrikes. [caption id=«attachment_119031» align=«aligncenter» width=«2048»] Members of a PDF check damage caused by 500lb bombs dropped by junta aircraft in Paungbyin Township in upper Sagaing Region in late June. / Homalin PDF[/caption] The Defense Ministry of the civilian government said 427 regime forces were killed and another were injured in the clashes, while resistance groups suffered 47 deaths and 134 injuries. The Irrawaddy was unable to independently confirm the numbers. The Defense Ministry also said that resistance groups seized a large quantity of military equipment, including 25 drones and 48 firearms. Near-daily clashes have continued to break out in upper Myanmar as resistance groups attack regime targets in the three regions and Shan State. Clashes have reported in northern Shan State since last week as three ethnic armed groups— the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Kachin Independence Army and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army—attacked regime forces in Muse, Lashio and Kutkai townships. On Tuesday, the junta conducted airstrikes on a village in Muse Township after learning that TNLA troops arrived in the area, according to Shan media reports. One civilian was killed and another injured in the airstrikes. Several resistance groups are attacking junta bases and regime targets across the Sagaing and Magwe and Mandalay regions on a daily basis. Junta forces are also facing an escalation of attacks from resistance groups and ethnic armed organizations in Chin, Kachin, Kayah, Mon and Karen states as well as Bago and Tanintharyi regions in recent days.

Myanmar junta suffered losses in Kanpetlet Township, Chin State, on Monday, according to Chin resistance groups. Clashes began in Kanpetlet Township on July 16 when resistance groups attacked two large junta units raiding villages in the township, according to the Chin Defense Force (CDF) in Kanpetlet. On Monday morning Minbu District People's Defense Force (PDF) from Magwe Region and the CDF attacked around 100 troops from Infantry Battalion 304 between Mawchaung and Hlaing Doke villages in the township, according to the civilian National Unity Government. Around 10 regime soldiers and a CDF fighter were killed and four resistance members injured, according to the Chin resistance group. On Monday evening, the Chin National Army, the armed wing of the Chin National Front, and other groups ambushed around 150 troops from Light Infantry battalions 301 and 317 in the township. The group said about 10 soldiers were killed and many others and five resistance members were injured. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports. Hundreds of villagers have fled their homes due to the clashes and junta raids. The CDF has urgently called for funding to fight the junta and provide for displaced civilians.

ThaiBev links up with crony conglomerate Win Brothers through its Singapore unit Fraser and Neave for new venture.

The Myanmar military regime is planning to move the country’s detained democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from a prison to house arrest, sources familiar with her case said. Observers saw it as the ruling generals’ latest attempt to ease mounting international pressure on them. The junta put the 78-year-old ousted leader in solitary confinement in Naypyitaw Prison in June last year after confining her to her house in the capital since the first day of its attempted coup in February 2021. Daw Sandar Min, a former member of the central committee of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), told The Irrawaddy that the regime’s transfer of the party leader was “90 percent certain.” “It has been a few days since I learned that the SAC [State Administration Council, the regime’s governing body] intended to move her from the prison. But I’m not sure if it has been done yet,” she said. Daw Sandar Min was one of the party members allowed by the regime to meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in prison late last year to explain to her the junta’s election plan. The regime has not officially confirmed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s transfer. The Associated Press reported that the regime plans to move the ousted civilian leader to house arrest as part of a mass amnesty for prisoners in connection with a religious ceremony next week. Lawyers for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi could not confirm the move but said they sent some food parcels for her via the prison authorities a few days ago. The junta has imposed a gag order on her legal team preventing them from talking to the media about her cases. Currently, she is serving a combined sentence of 33 years in prison after the regime brought a series of cases against her for alleged offenses including corruption and election fraud. She pleaded not guilty to all charges. Rumors that the regime plans to transfer Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to house arrest have been circulating  since Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai was permitted by the junta to meet her in Naypyitaw on July 9. Don revealed the meeting at a summit of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers, claiming that Myanmar’s detained leader called for talks to solve the crisis brought about by the coup. For more than two years since the takeover, the regime has been battling a popular armed resistance movement across the country. Opponents of the regime, including the shadow National Unity Government, have dismissed the meeting, and Don’s account of it, as one-sided, pointing out that their leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been unable to give her version of the encounter. Political observers said that even if the transfer to house confinement goes ahead, it would be nothing more than the regime’s attempt to ease the mounting international pressure on it. In the latest in a series of international actions against the regime, the US recently imposed sanctions on two Myanmar state-owned banks that play a crucial role in the regime’s international financial transactions. Regionally, ASEAN has banned the junta’s leadership from attending its summits since late 2021 over their failure to implement the bloc’s peace plan for Myanmar, which includes a call for an immediate cessation of violence in the country. The regime has responded to the growing resistance movement with indiscriminate air strikes, raids and arbitrary killings across the country. As of Tuesday, the junta had killed more than 3,800 people, including people engaged in anti-regime activities and civilians killed in indiscriminate attacks. Meanwhile, sources said that if Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is put under house arrest, this time she would probably be confined in a ministerial residence in Naypyitaw with tight security. They said the ousted State Counselor would be held there with female aides assigned by the regime, rather than the personal aides with whom she was living at an undisclosed location before being moved to prison last year. Under the previous military regime, she spent almost 15 of the 21 years from 1989 to 2010 under house arrest for her fight for democracy in Myanmar.

Beijing’s ambassador held talks on Monday with the regime’s foreign minister on ‘combating crimes including domestic communication frauds’, the embassy said.

Around 20 Myanmar regime troops were reportedly killed and others injured in a resistance minefield in Salingyi Township, Sagaing Region, on Tuesday. Around 100 ground troops in southern Salingyi to raid villages triggered around 28 anti-personnel mines near Byant Gyi village on Tuesday morning, according to the Black Peacock Guerrilla Force. The surviving troops reached Kyar Tat village around 9km from Byant Gyi by Tuesday evening. “We planted mines in three places because we guessed the troops would head to Kyar Tat. The three minefields were trampled by the soldiers. Around seven troops died in each spot,” Ye Baw Pay, the head of the group, told The Irrawaddy. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports. Around 50 soldiers entered Kyar Tat with many injured soldiers, he added. No resistance casualties were reported. The troops raided adjacent Zee Chaing village on Wednesday, taking food and possessions, according to residents. Thousands of residents from around 10 villages have fled their homes where they suffer from monsoon flooding and food shortages, according to the Salingyi People's Administration. “Villages from Myaing Township in Magwe Region are also fleeing and hiding in the forest,” a resident told The Irrawaddy. Kyar Tat is 19km from Salingyi town on the border with Myaing Township. Villages on the banks of the Chindwin have reported gunfire from regime vessels over the weekend. Salingyi and neighboring Yinmabin are resistance strongholds which have suffered from frequent regime arson attacks since 2021.

He will hand power to his son Hun Manet, who was groomed in the leadup to Sunday’s one-sided election, which Hun Sen’s CPP won after sidelining any meaningful opposition.

Beijing offered no explanation for the sacking of Qin Gang, who has not been seen in public for a month, but experts said it appeared to be a political purge.

At least 20 Myanmar junta forces as well as two resistance fighters were killed in the last four days as People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and a Karen ethnic armed organization (EAO) continued to attack regime targets across the country. Incidents were reported in Karen and Mon states and Sagaing, Magwe and Bago regions. The Irrawaddy has collected the following reports of significant attacks from PDFs and the EAO. Some military casualties could not be independently verified. Clashes resume in Karen’s Myawaddy [caption id=«attachment_118983» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] Fighters of the resistance group Cobra Column based in Karen State / Cobra Column[/caption] Clashes between the regime’s military and Karen resistance groups resumed in Myawaddy Township, Karen State on Monday and Tuesday when junta forces conducted offensives in an attempt to take back a strategic base recently occupied by resistance groups on Lat Khat Taung Mountain, said the Karen National Union (KNU), a Karen revolutionary organization. There were many military casualties and a civilian was also killed in the clashes. Clashes break out in Mon [caption id=«attachment_118984» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] Members of the resistance group Albino Tiger Company 1, which is active in Mon State / Albino Tiger Company 1[/caption] At least four regime forces as well as two resistance fighters were killed in Thanbyuzayat Township, Mon State on Sunday when PDF groups and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the KNU, clashed with a military unit of Artillery Battalion 315 as it was traveling through the township, said Albino Tiger Company 1, which coordinated the attacks. On Saturday, the resistance groups jointly attacked the same military unit near a village, killing a soldier and injuring another. Military unit ambushed in Sagaing Khin U Local Guerilla Force claimed to have killed at least 10 junta troops as it and other local resistance groups jointly ambushed a military unit of 120 soldiers and pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militias in a village in Khin-U Township, Sagaing Region on Sunday. A shootout occurred after the resistance groups first used remotely detonated land mines to ambush the junta troops. Military unit bombed by resistance drones in Magwe [caption id=«attachment_118985» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] Members of the resistance group Young Force take part in an operation in Magwe Region. / Young Force[/caption] The underground resistance group Young Force said it used drones to drop bombs on a military unit including pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia members near Hnaw Pin Village in Myaing Township, Magwe Region on Monday. Military casualties were unknown. Junta troops killed in resistance attacks in Magwe [caption id=«attachment_118986» align=«aligncenter» width=«936»] Myaing PDF fighters take part in an ambush of regime forces in Magwe Region. / Myaing PDF[/caption] Three junta soldiers and a pro-junta militia member were killed in Pauk Township, Magwe Region on Monday when PDF groups conducted a surprise attack on a military unit of 40 troops near a village, said Myaing PDF, which joined the attack. On that evening, Myaing PDF and other resistance groups attacked the pro-regime village of Kan Ni, also a base for junta troops and Pyu Saw Htee militias, gunning down a regime soldier. Regional government office bombed in Bago [caption id=«attachment_118987» align=«aligncenter» width=«624»] The entrance to the town of Bago / CJ[/caption] Bago PDF said it used M79 grenade launchers to attack the office of the junta’s Bago regional government and township general administration office in Bago town, Bago Region on Monday night. Damage and casualty details were unknown.

Resistance groups claim to have killed pro-junta militia members during an urban raid in the town of Taze, Sagaing Region on Monday. Fighters of Taze Township People’s Defense Forces staged a guerilla attack on three vehicles of pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia patrolling the town. The shootout killed two militia members and wounded three others, said the resistance group, which also seized a vehicle belonging to the militia. No casualties from the clash were reported among either resistance members or civilians. A Taze resident told The Irrawaddy that regime forces were stopping and checking vehicles in the town center a day after the clash on Tuesday. The ambush came after local combined resistance groups repeatedly attacked a junta convoy of 122 troops from July 14 to 17 as it traveled from Taze town to reinforce a police outpost at Kaduma village in the west of the township. Junta forces deployed an MI 35 helicopter gunship to protect the convoy after sustaining heavy losses. More than two-dozen regime troops were reportedly killed in the three days of resistance ambushes, according to the rebel groups and local media. Taze was among the first townships in the country to launch armed resistance against military rule following the February 2021 coup. The armed uprising in Taze began in early April 2021, when residents took up old-fashioned hunting guns and makeshift air guns to prevent military trucks from entering the town and dispersing an anti-coup demonstration by several-thousand residents. The township has experienced frequent clashes ever since.

Myanmar junta troops reportedly detained 20 villagers and killed six others in western Madaya Township and burned almost 200 houses in the east of the Mandalay Region township over two weeks. Two men were shot dead and a woman wounded in Nyaung Oke village in western Madaya on Monday, according to a resistance group. «Ma Ei Zar Linn was shot in the arm and her father, U Thein Linn and U Shwe Pyone died on the spot,» said a representative of the Madaya People Defense Force(PDF). He added that junta forces detained around 20 villagers in Nyaung Oke's monastery on Monday evening. The fate of the detainees is unknown. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports. Around 40 junta troops are reportedly stationed at the monastery. «They are on high alert because boats for reinforcements and supplies will pass through western Madaya on the Irrawaddy River in the coming days,» a resistance fighter said. Another fighter said junta troops frequently detain young villagers during raids, accusing them of fighting with resistance groups. On July 14, junta infantry troops detained five Nyaung Oke villagers and four days later residents retrieved the bodies of three detainees from the Myaung River, an Irrawaddy tributary. Only one detainee was released, a villager said. In eastern Madaya, almost 200 houses in five villages were burned down by junta troops after the Air Defense Battalion near In Gyin Myaing village was shelled by Mandalay People's Defense Force (PDF) on July 15. Junta convoys were then ambushed by resistance forces, according to Mandalay PDF. Around 700 junta troops were purportedly mobilized in eastern Madaya last week, conducting raids and looting homes. More than 12 villages in the east of the township have been raided this month, displacing thousands of civilians, according to resistance groups.

A US court has convicted Myanmar national Phyo Hein Htut of conspiring to seriously injure or kill the country’s ambassador to the United Nations, U Kyaw Moe Tun, a vocal critic of the junta’s rule. Phyo Hein Htut and compatriot Ye Hein Zaw, both in their 20s and residents of New York, were arrested by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in mid-2021 on suspicion of plotting to harm U Kyaw Moe Tun. According to the US Attorney’s Office, the pair planned to hire assailants to force U Kyaw Moe Tun to resign and, if he refused, to kill him. Phyo Hein Htut was a member of the volunteer security team of Myanmar’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations and passed information regarding the ambassador and Myanmar’s Permanent Mission to the UN to an arms broker in Thailand who did business with the Myanmar military junta. He received money from the arms broker to hire attackers to hurt the ambassador in an attempt to force him to step down from the post, according to a statement issued by the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York on July 24. However, in the end, he didn’t carry out the plan and informed the Permanent Mission of the plot. “While volunteering on a security team at Myanmar’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Phyo Hein Htut betrayed the person he was supposed to be protecting by secretly feeding information about the Ambassador, the Mission, and its personnel to an arms dealer in furtherance of a plot to hurt the Ambassador. The jury’s unanimous verdict holds him to account for his actions,” Damian Williams, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in the statement. Phyo Hein Htut was found guilty after eight days of hearings before US district judge Nelson S. Roman. Sentencing is scheduled for March 14, 2024, the US Attorney’s Office said. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on charges of conspiring to attack a foreign official. Ye Hein Zaw confessed to participating in the plot. He was convicted in 2021 and served his sentence. He is also subject to deportation, according to U Kyaw Moe Tun. The ambassador told The Irrawaddy that he was informed of the ruling against Phyo Hein Htut on Friday night by the Department of Justice. “I thanked him [Phyo Hein Htut] as he did not carry out the plot and informed us about it. However, on the other hand, we always say that there must be rule of law and as it happened on American soil, we urged that the case be prosecuted according to their laws,” he said. He said he is happy with the ruling as it served as a lesson for those who try to commit crimes, and reminded such people of the value of repenting for their wrongdoing. “We all need to work to ensure justice prevails not only in the United States, but also in Myanmar. If we work collectively and in a united way in the fight against the evil actions of the military dictators, we will be able to end the military dictatorship and restore democracy as well as justice and rule of law more quickly in our country,” he added. As ambassador, U Kyaw Moe Tun has refused to obey the junta’s orders and has supported the pro-democracy movement. Following his public opposition to military rule at an informal UN General Assembly meeting in February 2021, the Myanmar military junta dismissed him, accusing him of high treason. The junta has also tried to remove him from his post and replace him, but in vain so far, as the UN has rejected its efforts. U Kyaw Moe Tun remains Myanmar’s ambassador to the UN, where he currently represents the National Unity Government formed by lawmakers from the ousted government and ethnic minority representatives.

Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has handed out 220 honorary titles on his allies, including prominent Buddhist monks, to reward those supporting military rule. On Sunday he gave titles to Buddhist leaders Sitagu Sayadaw and Dhammasuta Chekinda, the military’s Quartermaster General Kyaw Swar Lin, Myanmar Economic Corporation chairman Lieutenant General Nyo Saw and Aung Khaing Than, who reportedly donated the marble for the colossal Maravijaya Buddha statue in Naypyitaw. Aung Khaing Than, the managing director of Anglo Mining Co Ltd in Mandalay, was awarded the Sīhasudhammamaṇijotadhara title for his “remarkable donation” to the statue. The marble block from the family’s quarry was donated to former military dictator Than Shwe in 2013 for a Buddha statue. Than Shwe gave the marble to the military, which was then headed by Min Aung Hlaing, in 2017. Sitagu Sayadaw and Dhammasuta Chekinda, who performed religious rites at what is reportedly the world’s biggest sitting Buddha, were respectively given the Thray Sithu and Sithu titles for their “contributions” to the statue. The two monks have also received religious titles and promotions within their religious institutions since the 2021 coup. Nyo Saw, who was appointed as Min Aung Hlaing’s economic advisor in early July, and Kyaw Swar Lin, who was awarded Sithu title last year, were given the Thray Sithu title. The military-owned conglomerate MEC is sanctioned by the US and Kyaw Swar Lin was also sanctioned by the EU on July 20. Lieutenant General Kan Myint Than, chief officer of the Directorate of Defense Industries, who received the Sithu title together with Kyaw Swar Lin last year, was given the Thray Sithu. Min Aung Hlaing awarded medals to 45 police officers in the resistance strongholds of Sagaing and Magwe regions. Five MEC officers and the general manager of the military-run Inwa Bank also received administrative performance awards. The junta chief conferred honorary titles on himself and former dictators Ne Win, Saw Maung and Than Shwe. Min Aung Hlaing has conferred titles on nearly 4,000 people since the 2021 coup. The titles and medals have cost around 7 billion kyats amid deepening poverty and economic chaos.

Prices jump, shops shut over fears of more “juntanomics” after central bank announces a new banknote will be issued.

The Bangladeshi authorities claim Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army commander Hazeef Noor Mohammad was responsible for a military intelligence officer's death.

Former Lieutenant-General Myint Swe is known for holding high positions under the previous military regime. However, since the 2021 coup, he has become a puppet of junta boss Min Aung Hlaing, serving as acting president in the current regime. As a trusted general of former military dictator Than Shwe, Myint Swe served as chief of Yangon Command and Yangon Region chief minister, before becoming the military-nominated vice-president in the now ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government. [caption id=«attachment_118896» align=«aligncenter» width=«640»] Min Aung Hlaing, acting president Myint Swe, ex-president Thein Sein and other former generals visit the shrine of the Maravijaya Buddha in Naypyitaw on July 16.[/caption] So, it is hard to believe that the man who has served in enviable positions throughout his military career and currently holds the country’s highest rank should now be engulfed in a state of doom and gloom. Myanmar military generals’ traditional obsession with rank and seniority appears to be consuming Myint Swe. Part of the Defense Services Academy (DSA) 15th intake, Myint Swe outranks any general in the Myanmar military as well as incumbent and ex-generals serving in the current regime – including junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, a graduate of the DSA’s 19th intake. According to Myanmar government protocol, the president takes precedence over everyone, his rank being higher than military chief. In reality, however, the nominal head of the country is being used merely to extend military rule once every six months. Whenever the National Defense and Security Council meets to prolong military rule, Min Aung Hlaing wheels out Myint Swe to preside and nod approval at whatever the junta boss says. Meanwhile, Myint Swe remains notably absent from junta cabinet meetings, national-level events, and meetings with diplomats. It is as if the president were under house arrest, remark senior military officers and heads of departments. Offering more clues to his resentment is his life at the President’s Office, which has been taken over by Min Aung Hlaing and renamed the State Administration Council (SAC) Office. SAC is the acronym used by the junta to describe itself. Despite being the acting president, Myint Swe sits in his original office for vice-president No 1. The office of the president is occupied by Min Aung Hlaing. [caption id=«attachment_118897» align=«aligncenter» width=«2560»] Myint Swe in 2018 as the vice president of the National League for Democracy government. / The Irrawaddy[/caption] The junta boss has also had his trusted military officers transferred to the SAC office and works only with them. “He does not use directors-general from U Thein Sein’s government or the NLD government. This shows he has no trust in them,” said a source close to the President’s Office. On days when Min Aung Hlaing visits the President’s Office from the War Office, where he spends most of his week, Myint Swe has to greet him at the entrance. Myint Swe also sees the junta chief out when he leaves the office. This appears to be the limit of Myint Swe’s duties: extend military rule for Min Aung Hlaing every six months, greet him and see him out. “Over time, staff have lost all respect for him. He is aware of that, and is deeply depressed,” said a President’s Office source. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the 72-year-old looks old for his age in photos published by junta-controlled and pro-regime media. Political observers monitoring the previous NDSC meeting six months ago commented that Myint Swe had aged a lot. His haggard face was even more noticeable during his visit earlier this month alongside ex-president Thein Sein to see the giant Maravijaya Buddha image built by Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw. Thein Sein is from the DSA’s ninth intake and is six years older than Myint Swe. But Myint Swe looked a lot older than the former president in photos of the visit. While serving as chief of Yangon Command, Myint Swe played the lead role in purging then spy chief Khin Nyunt. The Military Intelligence formerly headed by Khin Nyunt was then replaced by the Office of the Chief of Military Security Affairs, over which Myint Swe took charge. He was then appointed chief minister of Yangon Region after Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government came to power in 2011. He was earmarked for the post of vice president, but the Constitution barred his appointment as his son held Australian citizenship. That problem was resolved after the 2015 election when military lawmakers nominated him as vice-president. Myint Swe’s political career seemed to be at an end after the NLD won again in the 2020 general election, but the subsequent coup saw Min Aung Hlaing use him to transfer power to the junta and invoke emergency rule. Both former presidents U Htin Kyaw and U Win Myint were known to be ceremonial presidents of the NLD government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. But they won both international recognition and support at home. In contrast, Myint Swe is merely an accomplice of the coup leader, enduring daily humiliation.

Myanmar military ruler Min Aung Hlaing threw a birthday party on Sunday for the one-year-old so-called “white elephant” calf he sees as nature’s confirmation of his greatness. The birthday party was held at Uppatasanti Pagoda in Naypyitaw, where the elephant calf (which, in photos taken at the event, appears considerably darker than in earlier images) is kept. Min Aung Hlaing gave 5 million kyats (around US$1,700) as a birthday present for the elephant, to be used in raising it. On July 31, his regime will issue a new banknote worth twice as much as the current highest denomination, reportedly to mark the completion of the colossal Maravijaya Buddha Image and the birthday of the white elephant. At a ceremony at the pagoda some eight months ago, Min Aung Hlaing named the little pachyderm Rattha Nandaka, which means, in Pali, “the precious white elephant beloved by the country will bring prosperity and happiness to the nation”. [caption id=«attachment_118820» align=«alignright» width=«1600»] Min Aung Hlaing's so-called white elephant Rattha Nandaka's birthday party on July 23, 2023 in Naypyitaw. / Cincds[/caption] Critics point out that the name stands in stark contrast to the chaotic situation in the Southeast Asian nation since the coup. While Myanmar people awaited with dread the introduction of the 20,000 kyat note, fearing it will exacerbate inflation in the country, Min Aung Hlaing, his cabinet members and military leaders were feeding bananas and sugarcane to Rattha Nandaka and other albino or unusually pale elephants. The birthday boy, who was born in Thandwe in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State, was made to blow out candles on a 2-foot-square birthday cake, and release 10 white doves. Min Aung Hlaing has attempted to justify his coup, which he said was a takeover in line with the law, by exploiting ancient beliefs associated with rubies and white elephants. The junta boss has a giant ruby in his possession that he says is bigger than the one discovered by his predecessor, former military regime leader Than Shwe. He also boasts that his elephant meets more of the requisite traits for white elephant status than previous specimens found during the time of Than Shwe’s regime and during U Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government. Seeking to portray himself in the Buddhist-majority country as the defender of the faith, he has consecrated several pagodas since the coup, and has had a marble Buddha statue built, touted as the world’s biggest Buddha image. In the eyes of his critics, however, the only thing these really prove is that his madness is beyond remedy. According to a traditional belief dating back to Myanmar’s monarchial period, white elephants can bring good weather, bumper harvests, peace and prosperity. Previous junta leaders, including Than Shwe and Khin Nyunt, hailed the birth or discovery of white elephants as confirmation of their greatness. Not all agree, however. “There is no connection between white elephants and the development of the country. Elephants are only animals, regardless of their color,” said prominent historian Dr. Than Tun. In fact, aside from generals looking to justify their coups, no one in Myanmar has any interest in white elephants.

Two ambushes inflicted heavy casualties on junta troops stationed at a base on the Monywa-Mandalay highway last Friday, while four resistance fighters and a civilian were also killed during the clashes in Sagaing Region’s Monywa District, two resistance groups said. A combined force of resistance fighters used heavy explosives to attack regime forces and a pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia at a junta base on the highway in Monywa Township on Friday, according to a statement by the Monywa District People’s Defense Force (PDF) Battalion 24. The PDF is under the command of the Defense Ministry of the civilian National Unity Government. Troops from the junta base have been extorting money from drivers of civilian vehicles on the highway, the PDF said. At 1:20pm on Friday, fighters from six joint resistance groups ambushed forces from the junta base while they were extorting money from civilians using the highway, according to PDF South Monywa, which joined Battalion 24 in the ambush. [caption id=«attachment_118805» align=«aligncenter» width=«1280»] Alleged PDF members shot dead by junta troops in Monywa Township last Friday were displayed on pro-junta Telegram channels. /Pro-junta Telegram channel Fifty Two News[/caption] “Two junta soldiers were gunned down at close range while they were coming near the [hidden] resistance forces to get drinking water,” the South Monywa PDF said in its statement. A shootout lasted several minutes after other regime forces arrived at the scene. Later, at about 4:20pm, the resistance groups attacked the junta base again, using both firearms and improvised explosive devices. At least 10 regime forces were killed in the second attack, according to PDF Battalion 24. [caption id=«attachment_118806» align=«aligncenter» width=«962»] The bodies of two slain men displayed on pro-junta Telegram channels. . /Pro-junta Telegram channel Fifty Two News[/caption] Videos taken by resistance groups show them conducting ambushes and then retreating when junta forces respond with gunfire. Prior to the resistance attacks, three resistance members were arrested and shot dead by the junta troops while they were scouting the junta movements on the highway, according to local resistance forces. Also, another fighter and one civilian were chased and shot dead by the junta forces while they were riding a motorbike near the junta base on the highway. Pro-junta Telegram news channels reported that five PDF “terrorists” were killed by security forces in the area, and that one pistol and an improvised firearm were seized. The pro-junta media displayed photographs of five slain men. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports. Resistance groups are urging civilians to avoid regime forces and military convoys on the highway due to the potential of more attacks.

No place in Myanmar illustrates the rampant theft of natural resources by military cronies better than the Pegu Range (Bago Yoma). Family members of a retired Lieutenant-General have been granted almost 80 square kilometers of these forested uplands, which form a 475-kilometer spine in central Myanmar. Lt-Gen Ohn Myint’s wife and daughter were handed 19,182 acres of Kapaung reserved forest in Taungoo District, Bago Region under the quasi-civilian regime of president and ex-general U Thein Sein. His wife Daw Nu Nu Swe and daughter Daw Thiri Swe are officially listed as directors of Thiri Bhetsone, the company that owns the land. “Bhetsone” indicates a multi-operation company. Ohn Myint headed the army’s No. 3 Bureau of Special Operations under the previous military regime, known as the State Peace and Development Council, and was sanctioned by the European Union. A graduate of the 17th Defense Services Academy (DSA) intake, he also served as DSA commandant, as well as chief of Northern Command. He gained notoriety for a profanity-laden outburst in 2014 when he threatened residents of a village in Magwe Region while he was minister of livestock, fisheries and rural development under Thein Sein. He earned the nickname ‘Ohn Myint the slapper’ after telling villagers who were protesting a lack of clean water that he wouldn’t hesitate to slap those who complained about government policies. Other business entities listed under Ohn Myint family ownership include the Thiri gems company and Thiri tourism company. Daw Nu Nu Swe and Daw Thiri Swe sit on the boards of both companies. The Thiri gems company operates jade mines in Kachin State’s Hpakant and a jade-cutting factory in Naypyitaw. The Thiri agricultural company was granted the land in Pegu Range to develop an eco-tourism site along with an elephant sanctuary. While serving as a minister, Ohn Myint told Chinese media that the company owned by his wife and daughter would cooperate with Austria’s Fours Paws International to establish an elephant sanctuary called the Pegu Kapaung Forest Wildlife Sanctuary. He boasted at the time that the site would become the world’s biggest sanctuary for elephants. The company then employed locals to conserve the forest and plant trees. The vast forested area granted to Ohn Myint’s family boasts scenic views ideal for luxury resorts and housing projects. Other generals and Union-level officials serving in U Thein Sein’s administration also grabbed land in Pego Range under the pretext of forest conservation. Among them was the current regime’s information minister, retired Maj-Gen Maung Maung Ohn. However, he was forced to return the land to the state when the now-ousted National League for Democracy reappropriated idle forest and vacant plots.

Junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) chairman Thein Soe flew to Cambodia to observe the country’s national election on Sunday— a vote that was dismissed by the international community as neither free nor fair. The former Major-General flew to Phnom Penh on Friday at the invitation of the Cambodia’s election commission to observe the election for the 7th National Assembly, according to junta media. Thein Soe and his team visited the country to observe its election system, election procedures, voting and vote counting, the reports said. Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has claimed a “landslide” victory in Sunday’s poll that excluded the only viable opposition party. As the longest-serving elected leader in Asia, Hun Sen has been in power for nearly four decades. In January last year, he flew to Myanmar to meet junta boss Min Aung Hlaing, amid criticism of the first visit by a head of government since the army seized power from an elected government in 2021. Hun Sen has himself been described as coup leader, after he seized power from his co-prime minister in 1997. He is notorious for crackdowns on political opponents, while CPP-affiliated groups in other countries, including Australia, have been accused of threatening and harassing Cambodian refugees and their children. On Monday, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said “the United States is troubled that the July 23 Cambodian national elections were neither free nor fair.” Miller denounced that in the run-up to the election, “authorities engaged in a pattern of threats and harassment against the political opposition, media, and civil society that undermined the spirit of the country’s constitution and Cambodia’s international obligations. These actions denied the Cambodian people a voice and a choice in determining the future of their country.” The only viable opposition party, the Candlelight Party, was disqualified from participating in the vote due to a technicality in May. Its application was rejected by the National Election Committee because a registration document was deemed not to be an original even though it was issued by the country’s Ministry of Interior. Opposition supporters were arrested in the run-up to Sunday’s vote for allegedly encouraging the spoiling of ballot papers in protest of the one-horse election race. Internet service providers were also ordered to block access to the websites of several independent news and information outlets. Boycotting and disrupting the poll was also criminalized. [caption id=«attachment_118793» align=«alignright» width=«2452»] Myanmar Union Election Commission chief Thein Soe leaves for Cambodia on Friday to observe the controversial vote. / MOI[/caption] Thein Soe,  following his appointment as the chair of junta’s UEC, annulled the results of 2020 general election, in which the party of now jailed State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi won a landslide victory, claiming the poll was “not free and fair” and “not in compliance with” the constitution and the law. The former military advocate-general in Than Shwe’s regime also oversaw the 2010 vote, the first national election in Myanmar in decades. And he rigged the vote for the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) formed by Than Shwe. Thein Soe has also had major pro-democracy parties like National League for Democracy and Shan Nationalities League for Democracy dissolved. And proportional representation system will be introduced in the proposed vote to make sure it is a one-horse race for the military-backed USDP. His UEC also adopted a new election law that effectively disables smaller parties from participating in national elections. Despite Min Aung Hlaing frequently talking about holding an election, and transferring power to the winning party, he has yet to announce the date for Election Day.

Almost 50,000 more people were displaced by the escalating conflict between junta troops and resistance forces in Myanmar between June 12 and July 17, according to the United Nations refugee agency. An additional 46,700 people were displaced in four regions—Sagaing, Tanintharyi, Magwe and eastern Bago—and five states—Chin, Kachin, Karen, Kayah, Mon and Shan—during the five weeks, reports released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in June and July say. At least 20,000 people in Tanintharyi Region, 13,700 in Sagaing Region and 9,300 in Karen State were displaced by conflict during the period. Another 3,500 people in Mon State and 3,100 in Bago Region fled their homes during the five weeks due to escalating fighting between junta troops and resistance forces, or raids, indiscriminate shelling, airstrikes, and the threat of arrest or murder by junta forces. The new figures raise the total of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Myanmar to nearly 1.9 million. The number of IDPs surpassed 1.8 million in Myanmar on June 12, 2023, according to UNHCR. Ongoing fighting between regime troops and anti-regime forces in resistance strongholds after the February 1, 2021 coup is the cause in the surge of IDPs.  There were an estimated 328,000 IDPs in Myanmar before the coup. Of estimated 1.9 million IDPs now, 83 percent (over 1.5 million) were displaced after the coup in seven states and four regions. UNHCR also reported the number of IPDs has increased in southeast Myanmar, saying in an Emergency Update on July 3:  «Children and youth are reportedly targets for arrest and forced recruitment, as they are increasingly on the move in the region. In addition, reports of gender-based violence are also on the rise.» The number of IDPs had risen to 491,600 in southern Shan, Karen, Kayah and Mon states, and Bago and Tanintharyi regions, since the coup, it estimates. The number of IDPs surged 40 percent in Tanintharyi Region, 11 percent in Mon State and nine percent in Karen state between June 12 and July 17. The UN refugee agency put the number of people fleeing to neighbouring countries since the coup at 94,000, saying 67 percent (63,500) remain stranded in India and Thailand. Some 54,400 people are taking refuge in Mizoram and Manipur states in India, while 9,000 refugees remain displaced in Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province, alone, according to the UNHCR reports. Before the coup, there were 21,000 refugees and asylum seekers residing in India, 92,000 in Thailand. Another 930,000 refugees from Myanmar are in Bangladesh, primarily Rohingya who fled atrocities in Rakhine State in 2017.

The commander and deputy commander of the Myanmar military’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 2, overseen by the 44th Light Infantry Division, have been detained at the battalion’s headquarters for disobeying orders during the military’s recent fighting against combined resistance forces near the border town of Myawaddy in Karen State, according to sources. “The division commander ordered the two to fight. But they didn’t, and returned [to the headquarters]. They have been jailed. More sergeants and corporals from the battalion were sent out to the front line,” said an officer from LIB 2 who asked for anonymity. LIB 2 is based in Mon State’s Kyaikto Township. Its commander, Lieutenant Colonel Arkar Aung and his deputy, Major Kyaw Thu Maung, were put behind bars when they arrived back in Kyaikto on July 21. Resistance forces led by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) occupied a hill-top junta outpost near Myawaddy on Friday following three days of fighting. Junta troops suffered heavy casualties, and survivors fled the outposts. Resistance troops also seized weapons from them, said Cobra Column, one of the resistance groups fighting alongside the KNLA near Myawaddy. The Karen National Union (KNU), the political wing of the KNLA, said on Monday that 10 junta troops were killed and 11 others injured in the resistance raid. A resistance fighter was also killed and four injured. Since the second week of July, clashes have renewed in the area around Lat Khet Tuang Mountain in the west of Myawaddy Township. In March, the Myanmar military replaced Mon State-based Southeastern Command chief Major-General Myat Thet Oo with Brigadier-General Soe Min as part of its regular reshuffle. The KNU and People’s Defense Forces have escalated their joint attacks on regime targets in Karen and Mon states and Bago and Tanintharyi regions.

Online vendors in Myanmar are preparing to close their Facebook accounts and halt business after the junta’s Ministry of Commerce announced they must register within six months from July 21. The junta categorized online selling as an essential service under Section 4 of the goods and services law earlier this month, meaning operators must apply for a registration certificate. Unregistered sellers face prosecution under Section 5 of the same law, which carries punishment of up to three years in jail and a maximum fine of 500,000 kyats (US$ 238 as per the market rate). E-commerce in Myanmar has soared since the Covid pandemic, with everyone from ordinary households to celebrities selling goods online. Items offered range from food, clothing and home appliances to jewelry and real estate. However, some online vendors suspect the cash-strapped junta is seeking new tax revenue for its multi-front war on civilian and armed resistance. “Most online vendors sell only a small amount of goods and their businesses are not huge. So, if the military regime pressures us, I will stop selling online,” a Yangon-based online food vendor told The Irrawaddy. Another online vendor who sells cosmetics said that she plans to close her Facebook page because she is worried that the ministry will force registered operators to pay tax. “They are pushing us into trouble and hardship in various ways. I don’t want to register and I don’t want to contact them because I dislike them,” she told the Irrawaddy. However, Commerce Minister Aung Naing Oo insisted that the registration order is designed to protect consumer rights following a flood of complaints to the consumer affairs department. “This order does not prohibit online selling. All online vendors can sell legal goods after registering. Registration must be done online and the fee must be paid. The online sales registration system will be introduced soon,” Aung Naing Oo announced on Facebook. Registration only takes a few hours and is mandatory for individuals and companies who sell goods online, he added. “In fact, all online businesses in other countries have to register, pay tax and follow rules and regulations. Myanmar is not doing this alone,” the junta minister said. With the registration fee yet to be announced, online vendors are monitoring the situation closely before making decisions on their future.

Longtime strongman Hun Sen’s CPP faced no real contest in the vote, with opposition parties banned, challengers forced to flee and freedom of expression stifled.

At least 49 Myanmar junta forces were killed in the last four days as People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and an ethnic armed organization (EAO) continued to attack regime targets across the country. 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 PDFs and the EAO. Some military casualties could not be independently verified. Junta base seized in Karen [caption id=«attachment_118757» align=«alignright» width=«936»] Ammunition and military equipment seized at a junta base on Lat Khat Taung mountain in Myawaddy Township last Friday / Cobra Column[/caption] The Defense Ministry of the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) said its armed wings—the PDFs—and its ally, the Karen National Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU), managed to seize a junta base on Lat Khat Taung Mountain in Myawaddy Township, Karen State last Friday. A large quantity of ammunition and military equipment were seized in the resistance raid. The KNU said on Monday that 10 regime forces were killed and 11 injured. A resistance fighter was also killed and four suffered injuries. Junta base raided in Sagaing [caption id=«attachment_118758» align=«alignright» width=«936»] Weapons and ammunition seized during a resistance raid on a junta base in Shwebo Township on Sunday / Wild Tiger PDF[/caption] At least five regime forces including a junta-appointed village administrator were killed and two injured in Shwebo Township, Sagaing Region on Sunday when local resistance groups attacked a junta base at Nyaung Pin Hla Village, said Wild Tiger Local PDF, which coordinated the raid. Three weapons and ammunition were also seized from the base. Regime forces attacked in Sagaing  Resistance members ambush regime forces on a road in Monywa Township on Saturday. / PDF (South Monywa) South Monywa PDF said it and other resistance groups attacked regime forces and pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militias on the Monywa-Chaung U highway in Monywa Township, Sagaing Region on Saturday evening, killing four regime troops. The regime forces were attacked while terrorizing civilians and vehicles on the road. Prior to the attack, two regime troops from the same junta unit were killed in a resistance ambush on that afternoon. Clash breaks out in Chin [caption id=«attachment_118759» align=«alignright» width=«936»] Resistance fighters of Chin Defense Force (Kanpetlet) take part in an operation. / CDF (Kanpetlet)[/caption] At least five regime troops were killed in a clash in Kanpetlet Township, Chin State on Sunday when Chin Defense Force (Kanpetlet) attacked a military unit near a village, the Chin resistance group said. There were no resistance casualties, but a civilian was killed by a land mine planted by the junta troops. Last Friday, two regime soldiers were killed and another injured when the Chin resistance group attacked a military unit of 140 troops heading to Kanpetlet town. Junta suffers heavy losses in resistance ambush in Magwe  A junta logistics vehicle and a junta unit escorting the transport vehicle face several land mine blasts in Pakokku Township last week. / Kamma PDF Kamma PDF claimed to have killed 16 regime troops as it and Pakokku District PDF battalion 13 used six land mines to ambush a military unit traveling between two villages in Pakokku Township, Magwe Region at 10 p.m. on Friday. Fire was exchanged for several minutes at the ambush site as regime forces responded with both firearms and heavy explosives. Regime forces retrieved the bodies of killed soldiers the following morning, Kamma PDF said citing witnesses. Military unit ambushed with land mines in Magwe  [caption id=«attachment_118760» align=«alignright» width=«936»] Members of the underground resistance group Young Force based in Magwe Region / Young Force[/caption] The resistance group Young Force said it and other local resistance groups triggered land mines to ambush a military unit clearing mines planted by the groups on the Pakokku-Yesagyo highway in Magwe Region on Sunday, killing five junta troops. The regime forces were hit by remotely detonated land mines after they removed some of the mines planted on the highway.  All resistance fighters managed to escape despite being chased and attacked by the regime forces, said Young Force. Miliary unit bombed by drone in Magwe  A resistance drone drops a bomb on regime targets in Yesagyo Township on Saturday. / Yesagyo PDF Some regime forces are believed to have been killed or injured in Yesagyo Township, Magwe Region on Saturday when Yesagyo PDF used a drone to drop bombs on a military unit of 25 troops stationed in Tha Htay Kone Village, the resistance group said. Junta villa bombed in Tanintharyi [caption id=«attachment_118761» align=«alignright» width=«936»] Resistance fighters of Launglon People’s Defense Force / LLPDF[/caption] Launglon PDF said it used 81-mm mortar rounds to shell a junta villa housing regime-appointed ministers for the regional government, in Dawei town, Tanintharyi Region on Saturday night. Casualties were unknown.

Sunday marks the first anniversary of the deaths of veteran 88 Generation pro-democracy activist Ko Jimmy (Kyaw Min Yu) and former National League for Democracy lawmaker and hip-hop star Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw, who were hanged by the regime in Yangon’s Insein Prison on this day last year. Two anti-coup protesters, Ko Hla Myo Aung and Ko Aung Thura Zaw, met the same fate. The deaths of the four marked the first executions of political prisoners since 1989 and shocked Myanmar people and the international community; many governments had appealed for their death sentences to be commuted. [caption id=«attachment_118727» align=«aligncenter» width=«501»] Ko Hla Myo Aung (Left) and Ko Aung Thura Zaw (Right)[/caption] Ko Jimmy and Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw, who were charged under the Counterterrorism Law, were allowed to meet their families on July 22, 2022 for the first time since their arrest. However, the meetings were conducted via Zoom, not in person. Their family members did not know it would be their last meeting with the pro-democracy activists, or that the two would be hanged the next morning. Their families only found out about the deaths on July 25 when the junta announced through its state-run newspapers that the executions had been carried out. Family members rushed to Insein Prison, but were not allowed to see the bodies, nor were they told when their husbands and sons were hanged. On July 27, pro-junta thugs including members of the military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party and the ultranationalist Association for Protection of Race and Religion (known by its Burmese acronym Ma Ba Tha) stoned the houses of Ko Jimmy and Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw. Rallies in support of the executions were held in Yangon and Mandalay in the following days, with junta soldiers and police providing security for protesters. Prior to the executions, Captain Ohn Kyaw Myint, who plotted to assassinate the generals of the Myanmar Socialist Programme Party, and ethnic Chin student leader Salai Tin Maung Oo were the best-known cases of political dissidents being hanged in Myanmar. Ko Jimmy was 53 and Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw was 41 when the two made the ultimate sacrifice for the democracy struggle in Myanmar. According to the Assistance Association for Political prisoners, as of June 2023 more than 150 people including politicians, students and women had been sentenced to death since the putsch.

Regime troops killed three Yinmabin Township resistance fighters and 11 villagers during a pre-dawn village raid.