Joe Kumbun explains why the victorious AA has halted its conquests in Rakhine, and three townships remain under junta control—for now.

Visiting Magwe, a resistance stronghold, the junta boss claimed his planned poll has international backing; he urged troops and locals to ‘do their duty’ and vote.

Locals fear fresh fighting and regime airstrikes, as public anger grows over mediator China’s silence on civilian casualties.

Karenni State’s Interim Executive Council said the airstrike was the deadliest ever in the state and urged global action in response to the junta’s war crimes.

At least two children were killed in the aerial massacre in Mawchi, a town that has been controlled by the Karenni resistance since January 2024.

The Three Brotherhood Alliance has cemented control of a key China-Myanmar trade gate, turning it into a steady revenue source and a test of its governance capacity.

Fierce fighting is reported on the main trade artery to Myawaddy, gateway to Thailand.  

Branded as fraudulent by international monitors, the election is set to take place with much of country beyond regime control.

Even those who manage to hold on to one of the few remaining jobs in the locked-down Rakhine State capital don’t make enough money to eat, locals report.

Also this week, the junta vowed polls ‘no matter what’, while restricting distribution of AIDS medication and seeking support in Wa State.

The junta’s murderous repression, hare-brained economic policies, and forced subscription have drained the country of its most precious resource: its young people.

Six ethnic organizations said Beijing is pressuring the TNLA to cede territory while supplying arms to the regime and backing its December election.

China’s support for the junta’s proposed election is tied to its strategic interests in a stable Myanmar, and it has pressured resistance forces to agree to ceasefires.

Several major ethnic armed organizations say they will not allow voting booths to be set up in territories they control.

State bordering China harbors rich deposits of rare earth minerals, essential for making everything from electric cars to defense systems.

Beijing outlines a stability-first election agenda for Myanmar, prioritizing peace, unity and development to safeguard Chinese strategic and economic interests.

Junta blockades, soaring prices and US aid cuts are driving a sharp rise in hunger and malnutrition across conflict-hit Rakhine State.

Systematic rape and sexual humiliation are among the crimes in junta detention centers being investigated by the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar.

Overview of the western state conflict shows ethnic army pushing for control of the capital but vulnerable to coastal incursions.

At the first meeting of the junta’s State Security and Peace Commission, Min Aung Hlaing ordered swift trials for ‘disruptors’ and a military push to expand voting areas.

This week’s Irrawaddy editorial discussion asks if Min Aung Hlaing will take responsibility for his crimes.

A recent meeting with KIA and NUG representatives in the Kachin rebels’ mountain fastness of Laiza was highly productive, says Chin Brotherhood spokesman Salai Yaw Man.

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army’s general secretary was bullish Tuesday as the armed group readies itself for more China-brokered “peace” talks with the junta this month.

Resistance groups in Sagaing Township say 16 people trapped on the Sagaing–Shwebo road were killed. 

Analysts say regime is seeking to erode public reverence for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi by removing monuments to her father.

The AA denies killing 600 Rohingya in Htan Shauk Kham village, saying photos of the purported victims’ bodies in fact show junta soldiers who died in battle.

A brutal enforcer for successive military regimes, the former acting president is only the latest in a long line of criminals who escaped a reckoning with their crimes.

The ethnic army said it would block polls in areas it controls, denouncing them as a sham, and vowed to capture all townships in Rakhine State.

Malaysia’s foreign minister said the trip will likely take place on September 19 and include the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

The regime's $3-milllion PR campaign in Washington aims to whitewash war crimes and court US favor, even as it clings to Chinese support and continues atrocities at home.

Ethnic armed group says declaration is unjustified; regime delegation promises to relay request after visiting Mongla and UWSA-controlled Panghsang.

The regime says that its Ministry of Health will be able to distribute vital antiretroviral medication.

Also this week, the regime turned to ultranationalists ahead of sham election, paid $3m for access to Washington, and launched random phone checks in surveillance crackdown.

Anyone interested in an objective appraisal of the ongoing Spring Revolution in Myanmar should read veteran journalist Bertil Lintner’s new book, says Rajeev Bhattacharyya.

Regime forces, reinforced by a flotilla from Mandalay, have reoccupied a battalion headquarters that fell to the Kachin Independence Army in February.