Four killed and 1,000 displaced in Kachin State’s Hpakant
Hpakant Township residents in Kachin State told DVB that at least four civilians were killed and three others were injured by artillery during fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and regime forces, which began Friday. One Hpakant resident said on Saturday that the seven villages in the town were “deserted” after everyone fled.
Naw Bu, the KIA spokesperson, told DVB that over 1,000 Hpakant residents have been displaced from their homes due to the regime counteroffensive to retake Hpakant, which was seized by the KIA in April 2024. “Our KIA and [allied People’s Defence Force] troops intercepted the regime column on the Kamaing road [in Hpakant],” he added.
Hpakant is located 94-158 miles (151-254 km) west and northwest of the state capital Myitkyina and the KIA headquarters of Laiza. It is home to Burma’s lucrative jade mining industry. Regime forces launched its counteroffensive against the KIA in Hpakant and its surrounding villages, on April 23. Fighting in Hpakant town began on June 16.
Arakan Army ‘retreats’ from Rakhine State’s Kyaukphyu
Sources on the frontline in Arakan State told DVB that the Arakan Army (AA) was forced to withdraw from Pyaingseke village, considered an “entry gate” to the regime Police Battalion 32, due to fighting with regime forces in Kyaukphyu Township on July 2. Kyaukphyu is located 317 miles (510 km) south of the state capital Sittwe.
“The regime’s counteroffensive was supported by drone attacks and firepower from naval vessels,” a Kyaukphyu resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity. The sources added that Naypyidaw sent reinforcements to its Police Battalion 32 and Danyawaddy Naval Base last week in response to the AA offensive in Kyaukphyu, which began in February.
An analyst told DVB that the regime would defend Kyaukphyu “at all costs” due to its Chinese-funded infrastructure projects. The AA has taken control of 14 Arakan townships, as well as Paletwa Township in southern Chinland, since it launched its most recent offensive on Nov. 13, 2023. Kyaukphyu, Sittwe, and the island of Manaung, remain under regime control.
Regime wants resistance forces to support its election plan
In a written statement reported by regime media on Friday, Naypyidaw called on the People’s Defence Force (PDF), and other anti-regime groups, to give up armed resistance to the 2021 military coup and support the December election plan. The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) and the National Unity Government (NUG) were accused of “attempting to seize state power by force.”
The NUG called for a boycott of the regime’s elections and urged citizens to prevent polls in territory under resistance control, as well as in the ethnic nationality homelands. The National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) — a coalition of NUG, CRPH, ethnic armed groups and pro-democracy activists — has established a “Joint Committee for the Opposition to the Illegal and Sham Election.”
Min Aung Hlaing promised to re-establish a “multi-party democratic system” in Burma during a speech at the “Peace Forum 2025” in Naypyidaw on June 25. He ousted the democratically-elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government on Feb. 1, 2021 over allegations of voter fraud. Fifty-four political parties have registered with the regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) to contest the new polls.
News by Region
SHAN—Residents of Laukkai in the Kokang Self-Administered Zone told DVB that a family of three were killed on July 3. Laukkai is located 161 miles (259 km) east of the Burma-China border town of Muse. It came under Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) control in January 2024.
“A small reservoir collapsed, causing a nearby family to be swept away by the flood,” a Laukkai resident told DVB. At least four villages along the riverbank were impacted. Rice fields and roads were damaged. Muse residents also reported several homes flooded on July 4.
NAYPYIDAW—Regime Defence Minister Maung Maung Aye said that action will be taken against anyone accepting bribes from families with sons conscripted into the military during a meeting of the Central Body for Summoning People’s Military Servants in Naypyidaw on Thursday.
A family from North Okkalapa Township told DVB their son was forcibly conscripted after his arrest. A Hlegu Township resident added that complaint hotlines don’t work. The conscription law was enforced on Feb. 10, 2024. A total of 15 intakes have taken place since March 28, 2024.
MANDALAY—The PDF announced that two civilians were killed and 17, including infants, were injured by an airstrike and an artillery attack on an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Walthit village of Madaya Township on Thursday. Madaya is located 23 miles (37 km) north of Mandalay and is partly controlled by the PDF.
“A child was killed in the airstrike and an hour later, there was an artillery attack which killed an elder,” a Madaya resident told DVB. A PDF member claimed that there was no fighting with regime forces reported in the area. Residents of Walthit village have fled the IDP camp.
TANINTHARYI—The PDF claimed on Friday that it killed two regime administrators for their involvement with conscription and drug trafficking in Khamaukkyi Township on July 2. Khamaukkyi is located 150 miles (km) north of the region’s capital Dawei.
A Khamaukkyi resident told DVB that the administrators were involved in forced conscription. A total of 119 regime administrators have been killed since Feb. 10, 2024, according to DVB data. Fourteen batches of conscripts have been recruited since April 2024, numbering 70,000 based on regime plans of 5,000 per batch, according to Human Rights Watch.
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