Border trade still halted in Myawaddy, Karen State
Residents of Myawaddy Township in Karen State told DVB that border trade with Thailand has yet to resume on the Kawkareik-Myawaddy stretch of the Asia Highway, even though the regime regained control of the road on Sept. 6. Border trade has shifted north and south from Karen State to Shan State and Tanintharyi Region. Myawaddy is located 81 miles (130 km) east of the Karen State capital Hpa-An.
“The Myanmar-Thailand Friendship Bridge 2 has been closed since August 18. Cargo trucks from Thailand have shifted routes to the Tachilek border and the Kawthaung port,” a trader in Myawaddy told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Frontline sources told DVB that fighting between regime forces and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) over control of outposts in southern Myawaddy continues.
Myawaddy residents told DVB that two airstrikes were carried out by the Burma Air Force in Laykaykaw town and Rathegu village, located 7-10 miles (11-16 km) south of Myawaddy, on Sept. 8. No casualties were reported. Thousands of residents in southern Myawaddy settlements had reportedly fled across the border into Tak Province of Thailand after regime troops recaptured Thingan Nyinaung on Sept. 6.
Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun attends 80th UN General Assembly
Kyaw Moe Tun, Burma’s Permanent Representative to the U.N., attended the closing of the 79th and the opening of the 8oth sessions of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. His office stated that he had made around 60 speeches to the U.N. General Assembly from October 2024 to September 2025.
Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun’s speeches have highlighted the situation in Burma since the 2021 military coup, including the widespread human rights violations committed against civilians over the last four years since the armed uprising began. He has repeatedly called on the international community to support the people of Burma, who have expressed their intent to establish a federal democratic union.
Kyaw Moe Tun was appointed as Burma’s permanent representative to the U.N. in 2020 by the National League for Democracy (NLD) government, which was ousted in the 2021 coup and replaced by a military regime. Despite this, he has had his mandate renewed each year. There have been rallies in support of Kyaw Moe Tun remaining as Burma’s U.N. Ambassador held in Australia, Canada and the U.S.
India explores rare earths deal with Kachin Independence Army
India is working to obtain rare-earth samples from Burma with the assistance of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), according to four people familiar with the matter, as it seeks alternative supplies of a strategic resource tightly controlled by China.
India’s Ministry of Mines asked state-owned and private firms to explore collecting and transporting samples from mines in northeastern Myanmar that are under the control of the KIA, three of the people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
State-owned miner IREL and private firm Midwest Advanced Materials – which received government funding last year for the commercial manufacturing of rare-earth magnets – were among those involved in the discussions, the sources said. Read more
News by Region
MAGWAY—The Arakan Army (AA) stated on Wednesday that it has recovered the bodies of over 60 regime troops killed during fighting with the AA in Ngape Township on Sept. 7. Ngape is located 48 miles (77 km) west of the region’s capital Magway.
Regime forces reportedly launched a counteroffensive at a location two miles (3 km) northeast of Suntat village in Ngape. Suntat village is located 10 miles (16 km) south of the regime’s Natyaykan Air Defence Base, where a guard post was reportedly seized by the AA on Sept. 2.
MANDALAY—Tenants of the Sky Villa condominium in Aungmyaythazan Township, who survived the March 28 earthquake, told DVB that they are rejecting the reconstruction of the building. The developer N.T.L Company reportedly plans to rebuild the condo with tenant contributions.
“We want compensation,” a surviving tenant told DVB. The Department of Fire Services stated that 206 bodies have been recovered and 52 have been rescued from the rubble at Sky Villa since March 28. N.T.L Company reportedly paid 72 tenants each 10 million MMK ($2,200 USD) on Sept. 8.
Residents of Chanmyathazi Township told DVB that three adults were arrested by regime police on Sept. 8 and are accused of forcing six children under the age of 12 to beg for money on city streets. Police told residents that each child was found carrying 80,000 MMK ($18 USD).
The three adults have been charged under the Child Rights Law, which carries a minimum sentence of six months and a maximum sentence of three years in prison, and a fine of up to 1.2 million MMK ($280 USD). Residents reported last week that the children had bruises on their bodies.
SAGAING—Residents of Kanni Township told DVB that two children, aged 4 and 8, were killed by artillery fired by regime forces at Linponyi village in Kanni on Wednesday. Kanni, located 40 miles (64 km) north of the region’s capital Monywa, was seized by the People’s Defense Force (PDF) in 2023.
“[Regime forces] opened fire on the village and killed two children instantly,” a Kanni resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity. A PDF member told DVB that hundreds of residents have fled their homes due to air-and-artillery strikes carried out by regime forces in Kanni since Sept. 4.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,295 MMK)
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