Airstrikes kill six civilians in Sagaing Region
Six civilians were killed and a hospital was damaged by airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on Kanhtooma village in Taze Township of Sagaing Region, residents told DVB on Monday. Pro-military media claimed medical and motor services were targeted. Taze is located 69 miles (111 km) north of the Sagaing Region capital Monywa.
A Taze resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that six people were killed instantly during the second round of airstrikes, while the first round damaged a local hospital. The People’s Defense Force (PDF) in Taze told DVB that four injured people are in critical condition and are receiving emergency medical treatment.
Nearly a dozen civilians were reported killed and an unknown number were injured by airstrikes on Kanhtooma village on Sept. 26. The PDF in Taze, which is under the command of the National Unity Government (NUG), claimed that it seized control of the Kanhtooma village police station in February 2024.
Karen National Union offers help to US cyber scam ‘strike force‘
The Karen National Union (KNU) stated on Wednesday that it will cooperate with the international community in combating cyber scam operations along the Burma-Thailand border. This follows the U.S. announcement of a Scam Center Strike Force along with the Thai police “to crack down on cryptocurrency-related scams based in Burma, Cambodia, and Laos that target Americans.”
The KNU accused the regime in Naypyidaw of complicity in cyber scam operations in Myawaddy Township, which is located along the Burma-Thailand border 81 miles (130 km) east of the Karen State capital Hpa-An. Regime spokesperson Zaw Min Tun told pro-regime media on Oct. 21 that the KNU was protecting gambling operations on the land of KK Park in exchange for payments. The KNU has denied the accusation.
It has also requested foreign countries work with pro-democracy groups to combat cyber scam operations along the Burma-Thai border. Regime media reported on Nov. 24 that the military had demolished 217 out of 635 buildings in KK Park, which is five miles (8 km) south of Myawaddy. A total of 1,590 foreign nationals have been arrested since Nov. 18 at Shwe Kokko, which is 16 miles (25 km) north of Myawaddy.
UN ruling demands Bangladesh free detained Rohingya leader
The U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has delivered a landmark ruling, declaring the nearly three-year detention of prominent Rohingya community spokesperson Dil Mohammed in Bangladesh to be arbitrary and unlawful under international law.
The decision calls for Mohammed’s immediate release, compensation, and a full, independent investigation into the human rights violations he has suffered. The ruling, adopted by the WGAD in August and made public this week, is the first of its kind concerning the detention of a specific, prominent Rohingya refugee leader inside Bangladesh.
It places unprecedented international scrutiny on the systemic treatment of displaced persons within the country’s borders. Dil Mohammed, a spokesperson who previously engaged with U.N. officials, diplomats, and media from the now-destroyed “No Man’s Land” Rohingya encampment on the Burma-Bangladesh border, was seized on January 19, 2023. Read more
News by Region
AYEYARWADY—During a visit to the University of Agriculture and Livestock in Maubin Township on Sunday, regime leader Min Aung Hlaing announced that citizens have a choice to vote or not in the regime’s elections starting on Dec. 28 and continuing into January 2026. Maubin is located 100 miles (160 km) east of the region’s capital Pathein.
Sources close to the regime in Naypyidaw told DVB that polling stations for military personnel will remain inside the barracks and soldiers will have to vote at the station where they are deployed. In the 2020 general elections, military polling stations were set up outside the barracks.
KAREN—Thai security forces heightened border security on Sunday after artillery fired from Myawaddy Township landed in Mae Sot, Thailand, on Nov. 21. Five homes and a car garage were reportedly damaged in a village of Mae Sot District along the 1,501 mile (2,416 km) long Thai-Burma border.
Myawaddy is located five miles (8 km) west of Mae Sot, separated by the Thaungyin (Moei) River. Thai media reported that the regional military command ordered its troops to increase surveillance and monitor the Myawaddy-Mae Sot portion of the border over the weekend.
MAGWAY—The PDF in Myaing Township told DVB that it shot down one of two paramotors used by the Burma Air Force in Pakokku Township on Saturday. Myaing is located 131 miles (210 km) north of the region’s capital Magway and 27 miles (43 km) northwest of Pakokku.
A PDF member in Pakokku told DVB that two military personnel managed to flee after being shot down in a paramotor after departing Light Infantry Division (LID) 101. Fighting between the regime and resistance forces continues in Myaing and Pauk townships after a military counteroffensive was launched.
SHAN—A source close to the Karenni resistance told DVB that over 30 members of the Pa-O National Organization (PNO) have been killed in Pinlaung and Pekon townships since Nov. 1. The two towns are located 68-100 miles (109-160 km) south of the state capital Taunggyi.
The source told DVB that 500 pro-regime forces, including the PNO, have tried to enter the western parts of Pekon. Fighting between regime and resistance forces has forced over 5,000 residents from eight villages to flee their homes, the source added.
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