A resistance group calling itself the Brave Warriors for Myanmar claimed responsibility for an attack on the Central Military Command headquarters located inside the Mandalay Palace on Sunday, as voting was underway on election day.
“This mission was done to oppose the regime’s sham elections. We [believe] that all of our shots we fired reached their intended targets,” a group spokesperson told DVB, adding that there was an unknown number of casualties.
The regime’s Mandalay Region Chief Minister Myo Aung confirmed the attack but claimed that it did not impact voting in phase one of the regime elections, which kicked off on Dec. 28, with voting to continue on Jan. 11 and Jan. 25, 2026.
Voting is underway in eight of Mandalay’s 28 townships, including Kyaukse, Nyaung-U, Pyin Oo Lwin, Chanayetharsan, Meiktila, Pyawbwe, Yamethin and Aungmyaytharsan.
Fifty-seven political parties have registered with six, including the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the People’s Pioneer Party (PPP) and the People’s Party, contesting the regime elections nationwide.
Polls will be held in 265 out of Myanmar’s total 330 townships, according to the regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC). Voting will not be held in 65 townships, but will take place in the urban areas of another 10.
Brave Warriors for Myanmar told DVB that the military injured two civilians in Mandalay during its counterattack on Dec. 28. Nine civilians were injured in an election day attack on the USDP office and an election polling station in Myawaddy, Karen State.
In Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu and Sittwe townships, fighting continued between the Arakan Army and regime forces on Dec. 28. No casualties were reported.
Nine civilians were killed and over 20 others were injured by airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on Khin-U Township, Sagaing Region, on Saturday, residents told DVB.
