Airstrike kills 12 in Mandalay’s Madaya Township
Twelve people, including a child, were killed and 30 others were injured by an airstrike on a monastery, where residents had taken shelter from fighting between the military and the Mandalay People’s Defense Force (PDF), in Wawsu village of Madaya Township, Mandalay Region, on Friday.
“Locals from neighboring villages were sheltering in the monastery,” a Wawsu resident told DVB after the bomb struck on Oct. 11. “The deliberate bombing of a place completely unrelated to the military is a blatant and dishonorable war crime,” said an MPDF spokesperson.
Resistance forces in Mandalay claim to have seized 35 military outposts in Madaya. DVB data states that from Sept. 1 to Oct. 11, the Burma Air Force killed 235 people and injured 277 in 148 airstrikes nationwide. Shan State faced the most airstrikes at 43. Chinland faced the second most at 25, and Mandalay faced 21 airstrikes.
Over 100 political prisoners have died since 2021
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) stated that 103 political prisoners have died from various causes, with 63 of them specifically due to inadequate medical care in prisons nationwide since the 2021 military coup.
Thaik Tun Oo, the spokesperson of the Political Prisoners Network Myanmar (PPNM), urged international organizations to support efforts to ensure that prisoners receive adequate care. Zaw Myint Maung died at Mandalay General Hospital on Oct. 7 – one day after his release from prison on “medical grounds.”
The 73-year-old was reported to have died due to insufficient medical treatment during his three-years in prison. “There are many individuals like Zaw Myint Maung who lost their lives in prison. If they had access to proper medical care, there is no reason they should have died,” Aung Myo Kyaw, an executive member at AAPP, told DVB.
Prison Desk – Episode 1 is now available on DVB English News YouTube. It profiles an activist shot and jailed for protesting during a visit by CNN’s Clarissa Ward.
UN Secretary-General addresses Myanmar crisis
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), along with Burma’s neighboring countries, “to leverage their influence” to bring an end to the crisis which has engulfed the country since the 2021 coup.
“The humanitarian situation is spiraling. One-third of the population is in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Millions have been forced to flee their homes,” Secretary-General Guterres told the ASEAN-U.N. Summit on Oct. 11. “I support strengthened cooperation between the U.N. Special Envoy and the ASEAN Chair on innovative ways to promote a Myanmar-led process.”
The humanitarian situation has worsened in Burma since the remnants of Typhoon Yagi arrived on Sept. 9. Regime media reported that 419 people have died in floods and landslides, which destroyed an estimated 735,461 acres of paddy fields. The 44th ASEAN Summit, which discussed Burma’s crisis, was held Oct. 6-11 in Vientiane, Laos.
News by Region
SAGAING—Four civilians including two children were killed and five others were seriously injured in drone attacks carried out by the military on Inlalgyi village, which is located in Kanbalu Township, on Saturday. A PDF member claimed that eight drones dropped eight bombs.
“The attack was conducted while most people were asleep. The bombs landed on homes and killed a mother and her two children instantly, while the other civilian was killed at the hospital,” a Kanbalu resident told DVB. Around 200 homes in Inlalgyi village were destroyed by arson attacks in 2023.
Residents told DVB that a family of six, including a child, were killed by Burma Army soldiers and their family-run grocery store in Butalin Township was robbed on Saturday. Other civilians were reportedly killed.
“They tied their hands back and shot at them in the head. But for the youngest girl we saw her hands and legs were broken and it was like she was beaten before death. What they had done to these civilians was cruel,” said a PDF member.
SHAN—The Pa’O National Liberation Organization (PNLO) stated on Sunday that it has expelled its patron, Khun Okkar, and two secretaries for violating PNLO rules. Khun Okkar, and 15 others, resigned from the PNLO on Sept. 11 and announced the formation of a new group called the PNLO Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement-Signatories (NCA-S) on Oct. 9.
The PNLO claimed that Khun Okkar and the two secretaries violated its constitution by forming an “illegal” group before it confirmed their resignations. Khun Okkar said the PNLO deviated from the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) by fighting against the military in Pa-O Self-Administered Zone of southern Shan State.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,650 kyat)
Read: Examining the role of women in Myanmar’s Spring Revolution by Moe Gyo.