Regime forces threatening the Kachin Independence Army's Laiza headquarters are reportedly trapped on the road from Bhamo.

A clash has been reported between the Arakan Army (AA) and Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in Buthidaung Township, Rakhine State, with both sides suffering casualties. Residents said fierce fighting took place on Wednesday in the Mayu mountains near Sein Hnyin Pyar and Gu Dar Pyin villages. “Five ARSA fighters were killed and an outpost was seized. The AA seized weapons. I heard one AA member was killed and two injured,” an AA source told The Irrawaddy. Neither side has commented on the fighting and The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports. Rakhine media reported that fighting began when ARSA troops entered AA territory in the Mayu mountains. The fighting sparked fears of an escalation among Muslim and Buddhist communities. ARSA, a Rohingya militant group, first emerged in 2016 when it reportedly attacked three police outposts in Maungdaw and Rathedaung townships and on police posts in northern Rakhine State in 2017, killing around 12 officers. The military retaliated with massive clearance operations against Rohingya villages, prompting an exodus of nearly a million Rohingya to Bangladesh. ARSA now operates along the border and inside Bangladesh refugee camps. It has later come under fire after the killings of Rohingya community leaders in the refugee camps. A Muslim representative said ARSA was facing declining support among Muslims and no longer infiltrated the Bangladeshi refugee camps like before. The Bangladeshi authorities have launched a probe and were hunting the group, with its leader, Ataullah abu Ammar Jununi, reportedly in hiding in Buthidaung Township. Formed in 2009, the AA has been fighting Myanmar’s military in Rakhine State on and off since 2015 for Rakhine self-determination. It is backed by Rakhine’s population and was inflicting heavy casualties in Rakhine State and Paletwa Township in neighboring Chin State until an informal ceasefire was agreed in late 2020. The AA has since set up its own administration and judiciary across much of Rakhine State. However, fighting resumed in August 2022. A temporary ceasefire was agreed in November but tensions with the regime remain high.

Enclave controlled by United Wa State Army has graduated from drugs to international human trafficking and scams, as rule of law decays under regime.  

Also this week, entry fee announced for Min Aung Hlaing’s Buddhist colossus, and ASEAN upbraided for ignoring regime’s ‘peaceful democracy push’. 

The Arakan Army (AA) has warned that Myanmar’s regime is risking an armed conflict in Rakhine State by violating a ceasefire agreement. The military and AA engaged in fierce fighting from late 2018 to November 2020. After approximately 18 months of relative calm, the two sides clashed again from August to November last year before declaring an unofficial truce after mediation by Yohei Sasakawa, Japan’s special envoy to Myanmar. The ceasefire came after the junta blockaded main roads and waterways in northern Rakhine for more than two months, blocking food and medicine supplies. Farmers also could not harvest rice in parts of the state because of indiscriminate junta shelling. The ceasefire was agreed on humanitarian grounds and the regime agreed to stop arrests, release innocent civilians and lift travel restrictions, AA spokesman Khaing Thukha told The Irrawaddy. “The regime has violated the agreement. It has imprisoned civilians on terrorism charges,” he said. The regime has detainees charged under Unlawful Association Act or Counterterrorism Law over alleged ties to the AA. A senior clerk from Thandwe District General Administration Department was given a two-year sentence on July 7 for sedition. He was detained in November last year and charged under the Unlawful Association Act. Six Taungup Township residents were sentenced by the junta-controlled Thandwe District Court on July 11 to four years in prison under the Counterterrorism Law. Buthidaung Township Court last week charged two village administrators under the Unlawful Association Act over alleged ties to the AA. They were detained last September. “We constantly ask for their release. It is totally unacceptable that they are jailing them despite our requests. The regime must stop this, otherwise it might lead to armed conflict,” he told The Irrawaddy. The regime continues to restrict the delivery of goods by roads and waterways in the state with approval needed from the junta’s security and border affairs minister to bring goods into Rakhine State. Tensions rose when junta troops attempted to enter AA territory in Rathedaung and Kyauktaw townships on the pretext of delivering aid after Cyclone Mocha, said residents. The majority of victims have received little humanitarian aid since the storm in May. Rakhine politician U Pe Than said: “Myanmar’s military is seeking to survey AA areas on the pretext of helping the victims of Cyclone Mocha. They were trying to survey the area for military reasons. “But they don’t really want to fight the AA. There are checkpoints manned by the AA on public roads and the regime could attack them if it wants a fight.” Observers say fighting is possible at any time with no concrete political agreement. During the latest fighting in Rakhine, the regime has prosecuted around 100 people with most verdicts still pending amid complaints of unexplained delays by relatives.

A teacher who ran an online school opposed to military rule was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Monday by a Myanmar junta court at Obo Prison in Mandalay, according to lawyers. Daw Ei Shwe Sin Myint was head of the Federal School of Aung Myay Thar Zan in Aungmyaythazan Township, Mandalay Region, in cooperation with the civilian National Unity Government (NUG). «She was charged with terrorism at Aungmyaythazan District Court and tried by a special court in the prison. She was given 20 years. There are also co-defendants. I don't know their sentences,» a lawyer told The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity. The school was opened in February 2022, a year after the coup, for families that rejected education under the junta with classes from primary to lower-secondary levels. Four teachers, including Daw Ei Shwe Sin Myint, were arrested on March 22 last year. The school was subsequently closed. Junta newspapers in April last year reported that 15 teachers, aged 20 to 40, were arrested for unlawfully teaching at the instruction of the NUG. The reports warned that those who financed the school, collaborated with it and the parents would also face prosecution. The schools were not NUG-run but rather community schools emerging from cooperation between teachers who joined the civil disobedience movement (CDM), children and parents, said a striking high-school teacher. «Community schools were opened to provide education for all and set up a federal education system to challenge the military dictatorship and its education. But people who have forcibly seized power with weapons say the schools are unlawful,» she said. While some schools are online, in some parts of Sagaing Region and ethnic-minority areas where resistance forces have replaced junta administration, children can study in community schools. The regime makes sure striking teachers do not work at private schools. A striking lecturer from Yadanabon University: «It is quite ugly to arrest and imprison those teaching children. It is against the law. Teachers have been officially dismissed for joining the CDM. And it is extrajudicial bullying to arrest them for teaching outside public schools.»

Myanmar’s parallel government is opening Spring Development Bank to help fund the resistance and prevent funds from flowing to the junta

The European Union has imposed sanctions on six more Myanmar junta officials and one junta-controlled entity, citing the escalation in violence and grave human rights violations since the 2021 military coup. The fresh sanctions announced on Thursday target the ministers for immigration and population, labor, and health and sports, two members of the State Administration Council (SAC), the Quartermaster General, and the No. 2 Mining Enterprise (ME 2), a state-owned enterprise controlled by and generating revenue for the Myanmar Armed Forces. The targets are subject to an asset freeze and travel ban that prevents them from entering or transiting through EU territory, said the EU announcement. «In addition, EU persons and entities are prohibited to make funds available to those listed,» it added. The EU imposed sanctions on junta health and sports minister, Dr. Thet Khaing Win, under whose authority hundreds of doctors have been fired for political reasons and had their licenses revoked, while private hospitals were urged not to hire doctors who refused to work in public hospitals under the military regime. He also rebuffed UN Humanitarian Office (UNOCHA) requests for aid access during the pandemic, it said. Junta labor minister Pwint San was also targeted in Thursday’s sanctions since under his authority, the rights of workers – especially those affiliated with the opposition movement – are being systematically violated, it said. The labor minister has facilitated imports of oil and other goods necessary to sustain the regime’s power, while his ministry is aggravating disruption of supplies within the country by imposing import controls and restricting the transfer of remittances, it added. Meanwhile, junta minister for immigration and population Myint Kyaing is supporting repressive regime policies, including restrictions on citizens’ travel within the country and ongoing human rights violations against ethnic-minority Rohingya, the EU said. He has also participated in preparations for the planned election aimed at legitimizing the military’s illegal coup of February 2021, it added. Lieutenant General Kyaw Swar Linn, the Quartermaster General – the sixth most-senior post in the military – is involved in procuring weapons and other military equipment for the Myanmar Armed Forces, it stated. Kyaw Swar Lin also runs the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), which is one of two major conglomerates operated by and generating revenue for the military, it added. The two SAC members included on the new sanctions list are Porel Aung Thein, who is also a member of the military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party, and Aung Kyaw Min, the former chief minister of Rakhine State. EU sanctions currently apply to a total of 99 individuals and 19 entities in Myanmar. The EU has also imposed an embargo on exports of arms and military equipment, as well as items for monitoring communications that could be used for internal repression; an export ban on dual-use goods, and a ban on training and cooperation with the military. The EU is also withholding direct financial assistance to the junta and freezing all assistance that may be seen as legitimizing military rule. Thursday’s statement by the EU condemned continuing grave human rights violations including torture, sexual and gender-based violence; the persecution of civil society, human rights defenders and journalists; and the military’s indiscriminate attacks on the civilian population, including a deadly airstrike that killed at least 171 people on April 10. “All hostilities must stop immediately. The military authorities must fully respect international humanitarian law and put an end to the indiscriminate use of force,” it said.

Five civilians, including a child, were killed and seven injured in indiscriminate junta shelling in Khin-U Township in the resistance stronghold of Sagaing Region over five days. Two villagers died on the spot and three sustained injuries when a shell hit Mu Thar village on Thursday morning, according to a volunteer. «A woman in her 20s and a man in his 40s were killed by the junta bombardment,» a volunteer said. Thousands of residents are taking shelter in monasteries and schools amid frequent raids, arson attacks and artillery strikes by junta forces. «We don't dare to stay in our homes at night. We only return to get food during the daytime,» a villager said. Schools have been shut for a week and at least 5,000 residents from seven villages had fled their homes in western Khin-U by Thursday. On Wednesday, shelling targeted civilian targets in western Khin-U, killing two residents, including a six-year-old, in Thet Pay village, according to a villager. «A boy and his uncle died on the spot. His mother and another two relatives were injured when their house was shelled,» he said. A junta base in Ye-U Township has been shelling Khin-U since Sunday when a junta infantry unit passed through the area, heading towards Ye-U. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports. On July 16, a displaced villager was killed and one injured in Inn Pat village during a bombardment. There has been no fighting reported with resistance forces in Khin-U Township during the past week. Around 5,500 houses from 75 villages have reportedly been incinerated by junta infantry in the township since the 2021 coup.

Three resistance fighters were killed and two more were injured on Wednesday when Magwe Region resistance groups attacked a pro-junta village in southern Pauk Township. Fierce fighting began at about 5am when several resistance groups jointly attacked Tat Kone Village—the base of a pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia and a military unit. “We were attacked first by the regime forces while we were approaching the village. Three resistance members were killed by a junta explosive,” Ko Nay Lone, a leader of Pakokku District People’s Defense Force, told the Irrawaddy on Friday. Two other resistance members were injured. Two regime forces were also killed in the clash and at least 11 others were injured. The Irrawaddy could not independently confirm casualty figures. The junta also conducted a 45-minute airstrike on resistance forces with a Mi-35 attack helicopter, but no resistance fighters were injured in the airstrike, said the Chauk Guerilla Force, which joined the resistance raid.  One of its members suffered a leg injury. The resistance group said they were unable to enter the village. Local resistance groups said that at least 23 villages in southern Pauk Township have been looted and incinerated by regime forces and Pyu Saw Htee militia groups based in pro-junta villages, including Tat Kone. On July 11, a combined force of resistance groups raided the pro-junta villages of Tat Kone and Ywar Thit, torching junta bases and the houses of militia leaders. At least 10 regime forces and militia members were killed in the raid in which the junta also used a Mi-35 helicopter in an attempt to repel resistance forces.

Ko Mya Aye, who was jailed during the coup and freed last year, says young activists now prioritize federalism and ethnic rights as much as democratic elections.  

At least 31 Myanmar junta forces including pro-junta militia members as well as three resistance fighters were killed in four days of clashes as People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) continued to attack regime targets across the country. Incidents were reported in Kachin and Chin states and Sagaing, Magwe, Mandalay and Bago regions. The Irrawaddy has rounded up the following reports of significant attacks from PDFs. Some military casualties could not be independently verified. Military unit ambushed with land mines in Kachin [caption id=«attachment_118640» align=«alignnone» width=«936»] Resistance troops of Myohla People’s Defense Force based in Shwegu Township / Myohla PDF[/caption] At least 10 junta troops were killed and 15 others seriously injured in Shwegu Township, Kachin State on Thursday when Myohla PDF group triggered improvised land mines to ambush a military unit of 100 troops raiding villages along the bank of the Irrawaddy River, the PDF group said. After the ambush, injured soldiers and the bodies of killed soldiers were transported to a junta base in Shwegu town on motorboats. Pro-junta militia members killed in Bago [caption id=«attachment_118641» align=«alignnone» width=«936»] The bodies of two alleged Pyu Saw Htee militia members along with their vehicle loaded with charcoal bags. / Bago Region PDF[/caption] Tharawaddy District PDF Battalion 3802 claimed to have killed two pro-junta militia members, Chit Hmawe and Kaung San, on a road in the Bago Yoma Mountains in Minhla Township, Bago Region on Wednesday. The two militia members were arrested and killed while illegally transporting charcoal in a vehicle. The PDF group said the victims willingly helped the military regime by transporting regime troops to Yoma Mountain and searching for PDF camps on the mountain. Military camp attacked in Magwe Two pro-regime militia members and three resistance fighters were killed during a clash in Pauk Township, Magwe Region on Wednesday when several resistance groups jointly attacked military bases in the pro-junta village of Tat Kone, where Pyu Saw Htee militia members are recruited, said Chauk Guerilla Force, which joined the resistance attack. In the clash, six soldiers and militia members were also injured. A junta Mi-35 helicopter gunship attacked the resistance forces. On July 11, resistance groups raided the village, killing around 10 soldiers and militia members. Junta base raided in Magwe [caption id=«attachment_118642» align=«alignnone» width=«936»] A resistance fighter of Myingyan Black Tiger during an operation / Myingyan Black Tiger[/caption] Many regime forces are believed to have been killed and injured in Yesagyo Township, Magwe Region on Wednesday when the PDF group Myingyan Black Tiger attempted to occupy a junta base in Hin Thar Village, the resistance group claimed. The resistance group abandoned its attempt to occupy the base when its rocket-propelled grenade launcher was damaged in an accident. Heavy clashes erupt in Kanpetlet, Chin [caption id=«attachment_118643» align=«alignnone» width=«936»] Troops of Chinland Defense Force (Kanpetlet) / CDF (Kanpetlet)[/caption] At least 13 regime troops were killed during two days of clashes with Chin Defense Force (Kanpetlet) in Kanpetlet Township, Chin State on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the resistance group. On Tuesday, two clashes between the Chin resistance group and a military unit broke out near a village, leaving eight soldiers dead and many injured. After sustaining heavy losses, the junta used five fighter jets to bomb the clash site and a nearby village, damaging seven buildings including a church, the Chin resistance group said. Five more soldiers were killed on Wednesday as clashes continued in the area. Four resistance fighters also suffered injuries. Police station bombed by resistance drones in Sagaing [caption id=«attachment_118644» align=«alignnone» width=«936»] Resistance forces during a combined anti-junta operation in Myaung Township / CDSOM[/caption] The Civilians’ Defense and Security Organization of Myaung (CDSOM) said it and other resistance groups used five improvised fixed-wing drones to conduct strikes on the township police station in Myaung Town, Sagaing Region on Wednesday. After being bombed, regime forces from the police station responded with firearms. Military casualties were unknown. During the mission, the resistance group lost three drones. Also, three resistance members suffered injuries due to an accident involving a bomb. Police outpost bombed in Sagaing [caption id=«attachment_118645» align=«alignnone» width=«936»] Resistance fighters of Eagle Brigade / Eagle Brigade[/caption] The resistance drone group Eagle Brigade said it coordinated with three other resistance groups to conduct drone strikes on the Kan Daunt police outpost in Pale Township, Sagaing Region on Wednesday. Police and military casualties were unknown. Junta forces ambushed in Sagaing The resistance group Black Wolf Army said it and other resistance groups attacked a military unit of 50 troops between two villages in Shwebo Township, Sagaing Region on Monday, killing two regime forces. Drones were also used to drop bombs on the regime forces. In the clash, the junta used an Mi-35 helicopter gunship to attack the resistance forces, the PDF group said. Two junta soldiers killed in mine attacks in Mandalay [caption id=«attachment_118646» align=«alignnone» width=«1430»] Troops of Natogyi PDF conduct a security check on vehicles on the Natogyi-Taungtha highway. / Natogyi PDF[/caption] Natogyi PDF, which forms Myingyan District PDF Battalion 4, claimed to have killed two regime troops in Natogyi Township, Mandalay Region on Thursday when it triggered land mines to ambush regime forces near a mountain.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) confirmed that six of the 37 missing political prisoners from Bago Region's Daik-U Prison have been killed by Myanmar's regime. The 37 political prisoners from the prison, also known as Kyaiksakaw, have been missing since June 27 when the junta said it was transferring them. The AAPP this month reported the death of two of the political prisoners after their families received letters from the prison authorities. The activist group said six more families had received the same letters. All the letters said that while transferring prisoners from Insein Prison, a vehicle crashed and the prisoners attempted to escape. They were killed by «warning shots» fired by security personnel trying to recapture them, the letters said. An AAPP spokesman told The Irrawaddy that the junta's claims are impossible. «If it actually happened like they claimed there is no way that the accident and shooting of the prisoners would not be reported by residents and the prison would have informed them immediately. But now they concealed it and only informed after a long time. It is totally dishonest.» The families of the remaining 31 prisoners have heard nothing and the prison authorities refuse to reveal their whereabouts. «The other 31 and all political prisoners at the hands of the junta and face alarming risks as the junta is increasingly killing political prisoners using prison transfers as a pretext,» he added. The six confirmed dead on Wednesday were Yar Lay, also known as Zin Myint Tun; Jar Gyi, also known as Wai Yan Lwin; Zin Win Htut, also known as Ba La Gyi; Aung Myo Thu; Bo Bo Win and Nay Aye, also known as Arkar Htet Paing Myo. [caption id=«attachment_118616» align=«alignnone» width=«720»] Ko Khant Linn Naing, one of eight political prisoners confirmed dead out of 37 detainees missing after being removed from Daik-U Prison.[/caption] Two other political prisoners in Daik-U Prison, Aung Soe Moe and a lawmaker for Waw Township in Bago Region, Maung Dee, died on July 16 and 17, the AAPP reported on Wednesday. The family of middleweight fighter Tue Tue was informed about his death on July 13 when they were called to Magwe police station, the AAPP reported. Tue Tue was tortured to death during interrogation on April 26, it stated. «These events make clear the junta is killing and disposing of the bodies of political activists,» AAPP secretary U Tate Naing said. The AAPP asked foreign governments and international institutions, including the United Nations, to carry out emergency investigations and act against Myanmar's junta to stop extrajudicial killings and other atrocities. Since the 2021 coup, the junta has killed at least 3,810 people and arrested nearly 24,000.

Ties between China and the Myanmar junta are getting warmer, and diplomats and observers following the issue recently received a message that suggests the relations between Beijing and Naypyitaw could reach a new milestone soon with a visit to China by regime boss Min Aung Hlaing in September. Every China-Myanmar relations watcher knows that—if the news is true—it would be really mind-blowing for the junta leader, who has mostly been ostracized by Western democracies for his 2021 coup, and has even been banned from ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) capitals and excluded from their summits. Since then, Russia and China have turned out to be his allies, and Moscow has invited him for several official visits, but Beijing hasn’t. Following the coup, Min Aung Hlaing desperately tried to visit China to seek Beijing’s blessings for his regime. But his attempts were turned down by Chinese officials. What’s significant about the September trip—the message says—is he would be there at Beijing’s official invitation! But can China handle this hot potato? The Irrawaddy has not been able to independently verify the message that emerged in June, one month after Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang’s visit to Naypyitaw. Qin is so far the most senior Chinese official to see Min Aung Hlaing in more than two years since the takeover. [caption id=«attachment_118620» align=«alignnone» width=«1600»] Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang (left) and Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw in May 2023 / Cincds[/caption] Following Qin’s visit, regime spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun briefly visited China. Neither side made any announcement. Early this month, Min Aung Hlaing disappeared from public for a few days after a July 2 meeting in Yangon with officials from the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and associates to discuss national economic promotion. Asian intelligence sources and others in Naypyitaw said he flew to Guangzhou, southern China. The reason behind the visit was unknown. Obviously, Min Aung Hlaing is desperate to visit China to be received by high-ranking officials, and there is evidence to suggest that he will do whatever it takes to get invited. 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 controversial Myitsone Dam project in Kachin State. In September 2011, then President Thein Sein suspended work on the Chinese-funded Myitsone Dam in response to a mounting public outcry over the project, which critics say threatens the source of the Irrawaddy River. The Chinese were upset with the decision. The surprise suspension was also interpreted as a cue to Western governments, including the US, to ease sanctions. [caption id=«attachment_118621» align=«alignnone» width=«900»] Residents of Waimaw Township protest against the Myitsone Dam project on April 22, 2019. / Htoi Awng[/caption] In any case, if Soe Win raised this controversial proposal with visiting Chinese officials, analysts believe it indicates Min Aung Hlaing is desperate for further endorsement from Beijing, including an official visit. It will be a quid pro quo. But will Beijing buy it?  For China, welcoming Min Aung Hlaing officially will be seen as an endorsement and the lending of full legitimacy to the brutal and totally condemned regime in Myanmar. China should think twice before inviting Min Aung Hlaing. [caption id=«attachment_118622» align=«alignnone» width=«2500»] Min Aung Hlaing (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in Naypyitaw in January 2020. / AFP[/caption] Deep anti-China feeling  Following the February 2021 coup, the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar faced daily demonstrations in which thousands of protesters demanded that their neighbor stop supporting the military. Despite widespread international condemnation of the coup, China called it merely a “major cabinet reshuffle” and said the takeover was an internal affair, provoking huge protests. At the time there were calls for a boycott of Chinese products and threats to China-backed projects and pipelines. There were also attacks on Chinese-owned factories in Yangon. Then there were attacks on China’s pipelines in Mandalay Region. At the time, Chen Hai, Chinese ambassador to Myanmar, came out to say that the current situation in the country was “absolutely not what China wants to see,” adding that China hoped all parties in Myanmar “could handle the current problem through dialogue and consultation properly and lead the country back on track as soon as possible.” Despite such anti-China sentiment among Myanmar people, Beijing hasn’t been totally alienated from the regime over the past two-and-a-half years. In 2023, China stepped up its most high-profile engagement with the Myanmar regime since the 2021 coup by sending Qin. Prior to his visit, there came the Chinese special envoy, Peng Xiubin, who is the director of the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China, as well as visits by senior officials of Yunnan Province. However, there have been no regime ministers separately invited by their Chinese counterparts to Beijing for direct engagements since the coup. Engagement between the two militaries has also been at a low level since the takeover, even though China is a major ally and arms supplier to Myanmar. Once Min Aung Hlaing sets foot in Beijing on an official visit, it will only fuel anti-Chinese feeling in Myanmar. There will be consequences. Myanmar opposition forces may attack Chinese projects in Myanmar and protests will likely take place in and outside of the country. [caption id=«attachment_118623» align=«alignnone» width=«1140»] Protesters burn a Chinese flag and pictures of Min Aung Hlaing, Qin Gang and Xi Jinping following Qin’s visit to Myanmar.[/caption] Last time, after Foreign Minister Qin’s visit, anti-China protests broke out across Myanmar. Activists, student union members and general strike committees across the country launched an online campaign, sharing the message, “Hey China: stop killing Myanmar’s people by supporting fascist criminals,” in Chinese and English.

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) claims to have seized a Myanmar junta outpost in northern Shan State. During the Kutkai Township raid, junta mortar rounds hit a nearby village, killing a teenage boy and injuring three villagers, residents told The Irrawaddy. [caption id=«attachment_118629» align=«alignnone» width=«416»] A boy was among three villagers injured by junta shelling during clashes with KIA troops in Kutkai Township on Tuesday. / CJ[/caption] The camp was reportedly held by around 100 troops near Kaung Yar village on the Kutkai-Muse highway. KIA spokesman Colonel Naw Bu told the media that the junta base was only temporarily seized. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports and the KIA could not be reached for a comment. «It was a heavy clash when the KIA raided the junta camp. Both sides used explosives,» a Kaung Yar villager said. Infantry Battalion 123, based in nearby Nam Hpat Kar village, used at least ten 120mm rounds to shell the area. A Kaung Yar village house was destroyed by junta shelling. Two junta shells exploded in nearby Zee Daban village, killing a 16-year-old boy and injuring three others. «A family of three was injured when a shell hit their house. A teacher was also injured,» a resident said. More than 150 Kaung Yar villagers are sheltering in a nearby village. Tensions remain high in the area as the junta on Wednesday deployed around 60 reinforcements to the outpost which was temporarily seized by KIA troops on Tuesday. On July 16, two clashes between a junta convoy and KIA troops broke out in Kutkai. This month clashes between the regime and KIA renewed in northern Shan and Kachin states. The junta last week launched offensives in Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, 9km from the KIA's headquarters in Laiza. Col Naw Bu recently told the Shan News that junta offensives aim to take control of key Shan and Kachin roads.

KFC franchise holder expresses relief that resistance groups are not targeting areas where his business interests are focused.

Junta troops killed four civilians during a raid in western Madaya Township, Mandalay Region, last week. Nyaung Oke villagers retrieved three men’s bodies from the Myaung River, a tributary of the Irrawaddy, on Tuesday, according to a resistance group. “Four detainees were tortured and killed by junta troops after they were seized in Nyaung Oke on July 14,” a resistance fighter said. The detainees were three carpenters from nearby Nyaung Wun village and a Nyaung Oke villager, according to sources. On Monday a fisherman discovered two bodies in the Myaung but junta troops stopped him from recovering them, according to a villager. Villagers retrieved and cremated three bodies on Tuesday after junta troops moved to Madaya town. An unidentified body was found in a pond near Sa Kyin village on Wednesday. In eastern Madaya Township, skirmishes between junta troops and resistance forces have increased this week. Sources said around 500 junta troops have been mobilized as reinforcements after the junta’s 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. More than 12 villages in the east of the township have reportedly been raided by junta troops this month, displacing thousands of civilians.

Fears are growing for nine political detainees who suffered severe beatings at Yangon’s Insein Prison on Sunday, according to sources close to the prison. The nine are reportedly being “transferred” to Thayawady Prison in Bago Region but their whereabouts were unknown as of press time. Activist Ko Tin Htut Paing and eight other political detainees from Insein Prison Ward 2 were beaten and tortured by prison officers, prison staff and criminal inmates as punishment for discussing politics, according to U Tun Kyi, a former political prisoner. “They were severely beaten and tortured. They were then shackled and placed in solitary confinement,” U Tun Kyi told The Irrawaddy, citing information from family members of the victims. On Tuesday, they were transferred to Thayawady Prison but not allowed to take clothes or other belongings, he added. A representative of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) confirmed that Ko Tin Htut Paing and two other political inmates were hospitalized after being beaten and tortured by prison officials. “We heard that they were sent to Thayawady Prison but we are not sure yet. Their family members are going to Thayawady Prison,” the AAPP representative told The Irrawaddy. Ko Tin Htut Paing was arrested by junta authorities in Hlaing Township, Yangon Region on July 18, 2021 and charged with possessing weapons. While searching for him, authorities had detained his 64-year-old mother Daw Mi Nag in May 2021 and sentenced her to three years in jail for “incitement”. U Tun Kyi told The Irrawaddy he was “really worried” that the political prisoners will be tortured again at Thayawady Prison as bad old habits return in Myanmar prisons. “I have to say that the deliberate and systematic torture and killing of political prisoners in Myanmar prisons is now at its worst,” he added. Prisons under successive military regimes have been notorious for the worst forms of human rights violations against political detainees. Currently, political prisoners are not only being beaten and tortured but also face the threat of extrajudicial killing. AAPP reported that 37 political prisoners from Daik-U Prison – also known as Kyaiksakaw – in Bago Region have been missing since June 27 after supposed transfers. Prison officials have since informed the families of eight prisoners that they had died.

Outgoing PM Prayut Chan-o-cha told the public to ‘move Thailand forward in a democratic way alongside the monarchy’ after Pita Limjaroenrat was suspended from parliament.

Myanmar's junta suffered heavy losses during three days of resistance ambushes in Taze Township, Sagaing Region, according to rebel groups. The groups attacked around 112 troops from July 14 to 17 while traveling between Taze town and Kaduma village in the west of the township, according to Taze News, a revolutionary media site which monitors junta atrocities. Sniper rifles and landmines were used to ambush troops on a bridge at an irrigation channel last Friday while they were traveling from Taze to Kaduma's police station. At least six regime troops were killed or injured, the groups said. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports. Another heavy shootout broke out on Saturday when resistance groups ambushed the troops, saying they killed more than 10 and injured many others. The junta used a Mi-35 helicopter to attack the resistance forces, said Taze People's Defense Force that coordinated the attacks. A resistance member was killed and two were injured. Resistance groups attacked troops with explosives at Kaduma police station for two nights, said Taze News. A clash broke out near a monastery on Monday when resistance groups attacked troops returning to Taze from Kaduma. The Guerilla Warfare group said it used landmines and 80mm mortars to attack regime forces. It said 10 more junta troops were killed and many others injured, while three resistance fighters were wounded. The first armed resistance started in Taze in early April 2021 when residents started using traditional hunting rifles and air guns to prevent trucks carrying junta troops from entering the town and dispersing anti-coup demonstrations. Since then, frequent clashes have occurred in the township. As of July 11, junta forces had burned and destroyed 4,049 houses during raids on 69 villages in the township, according to Taze News.

Farmers in Ayeyarwady Region are being threatened with jail and land seizures if they fail to repay loans granted by the ousted civilian government by November, sources in the region say. Teams comprising township and village administrators, officials from the Myanma Agricultural Development Bank, soldiers and police have been visiting villages in Kyonepyaw and Bogale townships to instruct farmers to repay loans. A farmer in Bogale said farmers in the township cannot afford to repay loans and are worried their farmland will be confiscated. “Some farmers have not been able to repay loans for years. With the interest, the amount of the loan must have doubled,” he told The Irrawaddy.   “There has been intense pressure on us. They said we will be sued and imprisoned if we fail to fully pay back the loans by November. Around 75 percent of farmers in this area can’t repay the loans,” he explained. The agricultural loans were provided by the Myanma Agricultural Development Bank when the National League for Democracy was in power. Farmers were loaned 150,000 kyats per acre. Some farmers are selling pieces of their land to repay the loans and others are borrowing from informal lenders at high interest rates, the farmer said. A rice merchant in Kyonepyaw Township said that junta personnel “have been asking farmers to repay their loans since last month in our township. People will try to pay back the loan as the regime has threatened them with imprisonment.” Rice prices are high this year, but farmers are not benefitting because of inflation, the high costs of pesticide and fertilizer, and high labor costs. At a recent meeting in Naypyitaw, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing said farmers should get better access to quality seeds, natural and chemical fertilizers, and irrigation.

Myanmar’s military regime has launched a disinformation campaign to sow division between detained leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the resistance movement, distributing leaflets claiming that she does not support the movement. Locals in Thabeikkyin and Amarapura townships in Mandalay Region, upper Myanmar, said soldiers and police distributed the leaflets to passersby early this week. [caption id=«attachment_118560» align=«alignnone» width=«1080»] Police and government officials hand out the leaflets at a market in Salin Township, Magwe Region on Tuesday. / Khit Thit[/caption] The Irrawaddy has viewed the leaflets, which feature a photo collage of Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under the heading “Thai foreign minister reveals at ASEAN foreign ministers retreat that he met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.” The pictures are accompanied by highlighted text that reads: “Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has categorically rejected NUG and CRPH members who have used violent means to kill people while ignoring her political stand of nonviolence.” NUG is the acronym for Myanmar’s civilian shadow National Unity Government (NUG) while CRPH refers to the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the NUG’s parliamentary wing. Both bodies were formed with elected lawmakers from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party and ethnic allies in the wake of the 2021 military coup, to root out the regime politically. The NUG’s People’s Defense Force (PDF) armed wing has now been fighting junta forces for more than two years. Among Myanmar citizens, the NUG is widely considered to be their legitimate government. Soldiers and police from Chaung Gyi police outpost in Mandalay’s Thabeikkyin Township distributed the propaganda leaflets among locals on Monday, residents said. On Tuesday, regime troops and officials distributed the pamphlets in front of the military officer training school in the same township. “I took one since they were handing them out. But why should I believe what’s printed on it? I cut it up with scissors but kept Mother Suu’s [Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s] picture,” a resident told The Irrawaddy. The leaflets were handed to residents of Amarapura Township on the same day. They were also reportedly distributed in some townships of neighboring Magwe Region. Observers say the regime has been exploiting the recent meeting between the Thai foreign minister and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in a disinformation campaign designed to drive a wedge between the imprisoned civilian leader, the NUG and the PDF armed resistance. PanOrient, a news website thought to be on the junta’s payroll for the campaign, was the first to disseminate the message that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi told Don she “neither recognizes nor supports the PDF or the NUG, which is accused by the government of Myanmar of ‘terrorism and the killing of innocent people.’” It cited “anonymous sources”. PanOrient’s report met with widespread skepticism given that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had declared in December that she was proud of young Burmese people and all those defending and fighting for democracy. The public message, her first since being detained in 2021, was shared by her Australian former economic advisor Sean Turnell after he was released from junta detention. PanOrient’s report also contradicted Don’s briefing on the meeting to his ASEAN counterparts, in which he said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had voiced support for dialogue but made no mention of her withdrawing support for the NUG and PDF. NUG foreign minister Daw Zin Mar Aung said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is the NUG’s State Counselor and had always said she would never go against the people’s will and would stand with them. “So, for such a person, the question of whether she supports the NUG or the PDFs is totally unnecessary. One thing that’s sure is that the junta is desperately trying to spread disinformation,” she said. Unsurprisingly, the leaflet features a screenshot of the PanOrient report captioned “the news in which Daw Aung San Suu Kyi says she doesn’t support NUG and PDF.” Ko Myat Pyue, a spokesperson for Thabeikkyin Township’s Wild Elephant Guerrilla Force, said the regime had resorted to propaganda lies after being defeated in the ground battle – referring to the junta’s loss of territory in resistance strongholds. “It does not affect our revolution and we are not interested,” he told The Irrawaddy. U Tun Kyi, a former political prisoner and activist, said the junta is trying to destroy the image of Myanmar's revolution and sow division between the public and resistance forces because it is facing setbacks in every sector – from diplomacy, administration and military affairs to politics. “The terrorist military council [junta] is in a frenzy. They haven’t found a new way,” he told The Irrawaddy.

The Myanmar junta barred jailed popular leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from attending Wednesday’s commemoration of Martyrs’ Day, which honors of her father—assassinated independence hero General Aung San—and his slain colleagues, while continuing to deny the event state-level status, a policy it revived from previous regimes. Martyrs’ Day marks an important event on the Myanmar calendar, commemorating the assassinations of Gen. Aung San and eight colleagues on July 19, 1947. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has not been allowed to mark the annual event since the military seized power in a coup in February 2021. Nor has junta boss Min Aung Hlaing attended the Martyrs’ Day commemoration. Last year’s event was attended by deputy junta chief Soe Win. But this year, the regime downgraded the event, sending only Deputy Prime Minister and Transportation Minister Tin Aung San to attend. Under the National League for Democracy government, Martyrs’ Day was celebrated as a national event attended by the head of state. Min Aung Hlaing and then Vice-President Myint Swe (who has been serving as acting president of the regime) joined Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and then President U Win Myint at the annual ceremony from 2016 to 2020. The NLD revived Martyrs’ Day as a state-level event in 2016 after winning the general election the previous year. Min Aung Hlaing attended, becoming the first army chief to join the annual ceremony since the student-led uprisings of 1988. The first Martyrs’ Day event after the coup was attended by the junta’s religious affairs and culture minister. By sending a relatively minor official, the regime downgraded the event, just as its predecessors, the State Law and Order Restoration Council and the State Peace and Development Council, had done. At the 2021 and 2022 events, a member of the committee for organizing Martyrs’ Day and a department head of the Yangon City Development Committee laid wreaths at the Martyrs’ Mausoleum in Yangon for Gen. Aung San on behalf of his family members. Under former military dictator Than Shwe, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was allowed to attend the Martyrs’ Day ceremonies though the event was downgraded from state level and only attended by the Yangon mayor or the culture minister. Though Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was not allowed to attend this year’s event, her elder brother, 80-year-old U Aung San Oo, was present. While Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was behind bars in Naypyitaw Prison, Myanmar’s junta-controlled Supreme Court in August last year approved the sale of her family home in Yangon, accepting a petition from her older brother U Aung San Oo to sell the house. The lakeside villa in Yangon was the source of a bitter family dispute between the siblings for decades. In 2000, U Aung San Oo sued his sister, who was then under house arrest, claiming that the house was his. The 78-year-old Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who is being held in solitary confinement in Naypyitaw Prison, has been sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison. Resistance forces staged anti-junta protests in Yangon, Mandalay, Monywa, Hpakant, Magwe, Gangaw and elsewhere to mark Martyrs’ Day.

Myanmar’s National Unity Government commemorated the 76th Martyrs’ Day on Wednesday by honoring Independence hero General Aung San and eight colleagues assassinated 76 years ago today, as well as fallen heroes of the ongoing anti-regime Spring Revolution. “I would like to pay my respects to all the martyrs who sacrificed their lives to free the country and the people from colonialism,” NUG Acting President Duwa Lashi La said in his memorial speech at a virtual ceremony commemorating Martyrs’ Day. [caption id=«attachment_118582» align=«alignnone» width=«726»] Acting President Duwa Lashi La at a ceremony marking the 76th Martyrs' Day on Wednesday.  /NUG[/caption] He also reminded people to honor the many forgotten heroes, including ethnic martyrs whose heroism has been obscured in official history and those who paid with their lives to ensure the struggle for democracy can continue. “We need to remember that in addition to the great martyr leaders who worked hard to get out from under colonial rule, there are also many martyrs who sacrificed to get out from under the current military dictatorship,” Duwa Lashi La said. Family members of martyrs also spoke at the memorial. They included Kim Aris (also known as Ko Htein Lin), a grandchild of General Aung San and son of detained leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, NUG Prime Minister Mahn Win Khaing Than, a grandchild of martyr Mahn Ba Khaing, U Myat Htoo Razak, a grandson of martyr U Razak, and Dr Sein Win, a son of martyr U Ba Win. “All the martyrs will be proud and support all the ethnic people who are still fighting for freedom,” U Myat Htoo Razak said in a video speech at the memorial. The ceremony drew cabinet members, union, state and regional parliamentarians, members of Chin, Mon, Karenni state national consultative councils, representatives of political parties, and guests from foreign embassies and organizations, according to the NUG. Various brigades of its armed wing, the People’s Defense Forces (PDFs), also marked Martyrs’ Day by holding commemorative ceremonies and paying tribute to the fallen heroes. [caption id=«attachment_118583» align=«alignnone» width=«1080»] Shwebo district battalion 26 of the People’s Defense Force marks Martyrs’ Day. / NUG[/caption] Residents from resistance strongholds—including Yangon, Sagaing and Tanintharyi regions—also mourned the death of General Aung San and his colleagues on July 19, 1947 as well as the heroes who sacrificed their lives in the ongoing revolution. The junta, however, downgraded Martyrs’ Day from a state-level event and barred jailed civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of General Aung San, from Wednesday’s ceremony. She has not been allowed to attend the annual event for the three years since the coup. “Today we honor the martyrs who paid with their lives in the fight for freedom and federal democracy and also vow to finish off the military dogs as long as we are alive,” PDF members from Yoma brigade said in a video shared by the NUG’s defense ministry. They were referring to junta forces.

Junta fighter jets bombed a village in Chin State’s Kanpetlet Township on Tuesday morning after a junta convoy heading to Kyin Dwe town in Kanpetlet was ambushed on the border with neighboring Magwe Region, according to the Chinland Defense Force (CDF-Kanpetlet). The convoy is part of junta preparations for a major offensive in Chin State, said resistance forces. Some 10 houses and a church in Masatwi village were damaged in Tuesday’s bombing raid. The number of civilian casualties is still unknown, CDF-Kanpetlet liaison officer Salai Than Shwe said. “They dropped around 20 bombs. We still can’t confirm civilian casualties. We are only able to confirm property damage. I heard that junta troops suffered heavy casualties. One resistance fighter was wounded,” Salai Than Shwe told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday. Military tensions in the area remain high, he added. The junta convoy of around 27 vehicles including two armored vehicles, soldiers, weapons and food supplies left Laungshey town in Magwe Region on July 13 and is thought to be heading to the junta’s base in Kyin Dwe. The convoy is transporting around 300 junta soldiers from the 88th Light Infantry Division. Resistance forces have been clashing with the convoy’s vanguard along the road. The regime has been conducting artillery and air attacks along the Laungshey-Kyin Dwe road since the convoy left Magwe. A 12-year-old child was killed and a man injured when the junta shelled Yinke village, Saw Township, during an attack by its ground troops on July 14, according to local media outlet Yaw Alin Tan. Nearly all of Yinke’s 300 houses, which are located along the Laungshey-Kyin Dwe road, were torched in the attack. Around 2,000 residents of Yinke and two neighboring villages fled their homes. The regime also conducted an air strike against Swel Lwel Kyin village amid fighting on July 15, according to local resistance forces. Junta troops have been pinned down between Swel Lel Kyin and Masatwi villages on the border of Chin State and Magwe Region, said resistance groups. The daily clashes have resulted in casualties on both sides, but neither has released casualty figures. Resistance groups have warned locals against traveling on the Laungshey-Kyin Dwe road. A separate junta column consisting of around 150 soldiers from Kyaukhtu town has also arrived in Saw Township. This column is thought to be heading to Kanpetlet, said Salai Than Shwe. “The regime is apparently preparing for a massive offensive in Chin. It has been a while since they last attacked here. But large numbers of troops are heading here now. We will do what it takes to protect the people,” he said.

The Constitutional Court said it would take up a case on whether Pita Limjaroenrat, whose MFP won May polls, should lose his seat for owning shares in a media company.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says 37 inmates have gone missing since June 27, claiming it suggests the junta is dismantling.

Three resistance groups joined forces with the Karen National Union’s armed wing to target a junta outpost, troops and offices in six days of attacks.

An estimated 500 civilians are reported to have been trapped in Ywar Thit town, Bawlakhe Township, since regime troops blocked off the town on June 27.

Regime seeking backdoor to international trade and much-needed revenue after US restricts financial access. 

Pita Limjaroenrat said the eight-party coalition supporting him had agreed to renominate him for a second vote Wednesday.

Thousands of residents of Ta Kan Thar and other villages in Shwebo Township have been forced to flee since Monday’s air strike, which followed raids by ground troops.

Two bombs injured eight civilians, including two chldren, in Shwebo town, with pro-junta sources blaming resistance groups. 

A Kachin Independence Army spokesman and a political analyst say the regime is seeking to quell resistance and regain control of trade routes to China.