Regime attacks continue since ceasefire announcement
The People’s Defence Force (PDF) in Mandalay and Sagaing regions claimed that the regime has carried out attacks in areas under National Unity Government (NUG) control since it announced a ceasefire on Wednesday, from April 2-22. The NUG paused its PDF operations for two weeks, starting on March 30, except in self-defence against regime attacks.
Residents of Madaya Township in Mandalay Region told DVB that attacks carried out by pro-regime forces injured one child in Taungkan village April 4-5. Madaya is located 23 miles (37 km) north of Mandalay. The PDF in Yinmabin and Indaw townships of Sagaing Region told DVB that one civilian was injured by air attacks on April 3. Yinmabin and Indaw are located 107-196 miles (172-315 km) west and north of Mandalay.
The NUG administers six towns in Sagaing, Mandalay, and Magway – three of the six regions hardest-hit by the earthquake. DVB data has documented 67 civilians killed by regime forces in 108 air and artillery attacks since March 28 with 46 of these attacks occurring since the regime announced its ceasefire on April 2.
UN urges unhindered aid access and funding to match scale of crisis
As Myanmar grapples with the aftermath of the 7.7-magnitude earthquake on March 28, the U.N. has called on Naypyidaw for unrestricted humanitarian access, and for the international community to immediately step up funding to match the scale of this crisis.
“Myanmar today is the scene of utter devastation and desperation,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres told the media on Friday. “The earthquake has supercharged the suffering – with the monsoon season just around the corner. We need rapid action on several fronts.”
The U.N. Security Council, which is the only U.N. body with authority to issue resolutions that are binding on member states, expressed gratitude for the prompt support from regional countries, U.N. agencies, and the broader international community, in providing urgent disaster relief to Myanmar. Read more.
China to mediate administering Lashio Township
The regime in Naypyidaw and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) will jointly administer Lashio Township in northern Shan State with China’s consular office acting as a mediator, according to a source close to the MNDAA. Lashio is located 107 miles (172 km) south of the Burma-China border town of Muse and 243 miles (391 km) north of the Shan State capital Taunggyi.
“The MNDAA will have to withdraw from Lashio by April 22,” the source told DVB on condition of anonymity. The joint regime-MNDAA administration will begin once the MNDAA withdraws from Lashio town at the end of this month, he added. Lashio came under MNDAA control when it seized the Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters on Aug. 3. The MNDAA has yet to issue an official statement confirming any of this.
The withdrawal from Lashio is the final stage of the China-brokered ceasefire agreement which was reached between the MNDAA and the regime on Jan. 18. Naypyidaw will control 12 neighbourhoods of Lashio while the MNDAA will continue its administration in the outskirts, sources told DVB. Since Oct. 27, 2023, the MNDAA has re-taken control of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone, as well as nine towns in northern Shan.
News by Region
CHINLAND—The Chinland Information Center told DVB that pro-regime forces, including the Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA), destroyed 80 homes by fire in Nakzang village of Tonzang Township on Friday. Tonzang is 145 miles (233 km) south of the state capital Hakha. It came under Chin National Army (CNA) control in May.
“[Pro-regime] forces deployed along the border of Chin and Manipur [State of India] raided the CNA Division 4 outpost in Tonzang. They fled when we fought back and set fire to the village,” the Chinland Information Center spokesperson told DVB. Nakzang residents have fled their homes and are staying temporarily in Tonzang.
MAGWAY—The PDF in Sidoktaya Township told DVB that four civilians were killed and five others, including a Buddhist monk, were injured after two vehicles hit landmines along the Ngape-Sidoktaya road on Thursday. Sidoktaya is 81 miles (130 km) northwest of the region’s capital Magway.
“Four out of nine people in the vehicles were killed instantly,” a PDF member in Minbu Township told DVB. The PDF in Sidoktaya stated that it will take action against pro-military militias it alleged planted the landmines. It warned residents not to use the road from 7 pm to 5 am.
SAGAING—The NUG stated on Saturday that 47 people have been killed, 55 have been injured, and more than 25,000 have survived the earthquake in the 49 villages under its control. It added that over 387 heritage buildings and 1,800 homes have been destroyed.
“We are helping the earthquake-affected victims not only in our controlled areas, but also in the regime-controlled areas,” stated the NUG Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration in a press release on Saturday. It added that it had received over 170 million MMK ($38,370 USD) in relief aid.
A resistance group calling itself Unicorn Guerilla Force told DVB that around 40 people were killed but many remain missing in Mingun town of Sagaing Township. An unknown number of temples, pagodas, homes and religious buildings were destroyed by the earthquake on March 28. Mingun is located 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Mandalay.
“I haven’t seen other relief groups arriving in Mingun as the damages in Mandalay and Sagaing towns are much higher than here,” the group’s spokesperson told DVB. Earthquake survivors have been sent to nearby hospitals and clinics run by the NUG.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,440 MMK)
