Airstrikes on Lashio despite Brotherhood Alliance peace pledge
Local sources in Lashio told DVB that nine civilians were injured and an unknown number of houses were destroyed during airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on Tuesday. The city, located in northern Shan State, came under the control of the Brotherhood Alliance on Aug. 3.
“They dropped two bombs first, then another two,” a Lashio resident told DVB. Two 500-pound bombs were reportedly deployed on the city. The Air Force has carried out four previous airstrikes since August.
The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) took full control of Lashio after it seized the Northeast Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters. The Brotherhood Alliance includes the MNDAA, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and the Arakan Army (AA). It launched Operation 1027 on Oct. 27.
Pope calls for Aung San Suu Kyi’s release
Pope Francis called on the regime in Naypyidaw to immediately release State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held incommunicado in the capital Naypyidaw since her arrest during the coup on Feb. 1, 2021.
“I asked for Ms Aung San Suu Kyi’s release and received her son in Rome. I offered the Vatican to receive her in our territory,” Pope Francis said during a conversation with Jesuits during a visit to Asia Sept. 2-13.
The Vatican was offered as a safe haven for Aung San Suu Kyi if released from prison, where she’s been sentenced to 27 years. The Pope added that the future of Burma must be one that’s based on respect for democracy and the human rights of all its citizens. He previously visited Burma in 2017.
Regime alleged to have executed married couple
The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) strongly condemned the execution of a husband and wife inside Yangon’s Insein Prison on Monday. Kaung Htet and Chan Myae Thu were sentenced for their alleged involvement in a bombing that killed at least eight people at Insein Prison on Oct. 19. 2022.
“We are gravely concerned that the death penalty is being used to silence persons with dissenting views in Myanmar,” said Arlene Brosas, an APHR board member and Philippines member of the House of Representatives. The APHR claimed that the regime was planning to execute five other activists on Tuesday.
It added that the regime is set to execute over 120 inmates in prisons over the coming weeks. Four pro-democracy activists, including Phyo Zeyar Thaw and Kyaw Min Yu “Ko Jimmy,” were executed at Insein Prison in July 2022. They were sentenced by the regime for allegedly committing “terror acts” and became the first political prisoners to be executed in Burma since 1988.
India invites resistance groups to attend federalism seminar
The Indian government has invited the civilian-led National Unity Government (NUG), the Chin National Front (CNF), the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and the AA, to attend a federalism seminar in New Delhi. It is set to take place in mid-November, Reuters reported.
“We also need to see. whether it is meant to achieve specific foreign policy outcomes or simply relay a signal to the Myanmar military to step back. India remains concerned about the security and stability of its borders,” Angshuman Choudhury, a researcher who studies India-Burma affairs, told Reuters.
The seminar will be hosted by the Indian Council of World Affairs, which includes India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar. New Delhi has maintained close ties with the regime since the 2021 coup. The AA, the CNF, the KIA, and the People’s Defense Force (PDF) under the NUG all maintain a presence along the 1,025-mile (1,650 km) India-Burma border.
News by Region
BAGO—The military has imposed restrictions on charity groups delivering humanitarian assistance to over 160,000 flood survivors living in Nyaunglebin District, which is located in the Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 3 territory. The Sittaung River has been flooded since Sept. 10.
“There are relief groups from KNU-controlled areas that are assisting flood victims. But there are a lot of necessities that are still needed as the military blocked and seized the aid,” a rescue worker in Nyaunglebin District told DVB. Residents living in KNU Brigade 3 territory have also faced fighting between resistance forces and the military.
SAGAING—Two members of the PDF, along with a 70-year-old man, were killed by the military in Kato village of Butalin Township, located around 23 miles (37 km) north of the Sagaing Region capital Monywa on Monday. The military burned down more than 20 homes in the village on Sunday.
“Two [PDF] members thought [soldiers] had left the village after the arson attacks. They encountered them and were killed,” a Butalin PDF spokesperson told DVB. Thousands of civilians have been displaced from their homes since fighting between the military and the PDF started in a nearby village on Sept. 18.
NAYPYIDAW—Residents told DVB that regime authorities have forced flood survivors to return to their homes in the capital. Roads and debris have been cleared from city streets in preparation for their return.
“How can we return when we have no homes to go back to?” asked a Naypyidaw resident. Regime media reported that 164 people have been killed and 23 are still missing due to floods in Naypyidaw since the remnants of Typhoon Yagi arrived in Burma on Sept. 9.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 5,100 kyat)
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