Brotherhood Alliance members declared ‘terrorist groups’
The regime’s Central Committee for Counter Terrorism (CCCT) declared the three members of the Brotherhood Alliance, the Arakan Army (AA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), as terrorist groups on Monday.
“It seems that the military could stage an offensive after this announcement. There is a Hsinbyushin [operation] military column that was recently formed and they may fight back in northern Shan State. They might also take action against people who support the Brotherhood Alliance under the Counter-Terrorism Law,” a military analyst told DVB.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) government led by Aung San Suu Kyi declared the AA a terrorist group on March 23, 2020, but the regime revoked the order on March 21, 2021. Members of the Brotherhood Alliance have taken control of swathes of territory in northern Shan and Arakan states since it launched Operation 1027 on Oct. 27.
Adoption of digital currency wont stop inflation, economist says
The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) wants commercial banks to cooperate with the regime in adopting digital currency to reduce the need for printing more banknotes, which it states would prevent the inflation that has caused the kyat-USD exchange rate to rise in recent weeks.
“If the [CBM] is going to actually issue the digital [currency] and if the people are going to start using and accepting that as a form of money, then the cost of releasing the digital money is going to be very minuscule,” said Min Min Thaw, a lecturer at California State University, Sacramento who specializes in Burma’s economy. “I don’t foresee that inflation will be positively impacted. I would foresee that inflation is going to be higher than before.”
The Institute for Strategy and Policy – Myanmar (ISP-Myanmar) told DVB that there are significant challenges ahead of the CBM in implementing a digital currency. Civil servants from 34 different departmental offices in Naypyidaw have had their salaries paid with digital currency since May 2023.
At least 30 migrants missing after boat capsizes in Laos
Thailand’s Daily News reported that at least 30 undocumented migrant workers from Burma have gone missing since a boat capsized in the Mekong River near the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ) on Monday. The SEZ is located in northwestern Laos’ Bokeo Province, which borders Burma’s Shan State and Thailand’s Chiang Rai Province.
Ten people were reportedly rescued after a boat transporting 40 Burma nationals to Tachileik in eastern Shan State, near the Laos border, capsized due to engine failure. The migrants claimed that they were fleeing arrests amidst a crackdown by Laotian authorities on cyber scam syndicates operating in the Golden Triangle SEZ.
Over 40,000 migrant workers from Burma are employed at casinos and cyber scam compounds within the SEZ. The crackdown on undocumented migrant workers in Laos has led to a significant number of arrests, according to the authorities. Many Burma nationals have sought work in Laos since the 2021 military coup.
News by Region
KARENNI—Children living in six villages and in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps located in western Hpruso Township, near the boundary of Karenni and Karen states, have faced skin infections since August.
“If one child gets infected it then spreads to the whole house,” said the chief of Kabe village, which is home to 500 people. Nearly all local children have been infected, the chief added. The villages and IDP camps are in need of medicine to treat skin infections.
MANDALAY—At least one civilian was injured and at least three homes were damaged near the Central Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters, early on Tuesday. A resistance group calling itself the Brave Warriors for Myanmar claimed it fired seven missiles at the Central RMC.
“It is one of the two key military headquarters that primarily command attacks [against resistance forces],” the group stated. It claimed to have launched a similar attack on the Central RMC in December. The People’s Defense Force (PDF) and the Brotherhood Alliance launched a joint-offensive in Mandalay Region on June 25.
TANINTHARYI—Men aged 15-35 have been stopped from leaving the country to enter Thailand at the border crossing in Kawthaung, located in southern Tanintharyi Region, on Sept. 2. Only men who hold identification cards issued in Kawthaung are allowed to use the border crossing.
“The border gate was closed as people who were barred from leaving from Yangon airport were using the gate to leave the country. Women are still allowed to pass,” a Kawthaung resident told DVB. Conscription aged men repatriated from Thailand through the Kawthaung border crossing are reportedly being detained and extorted for money.
NAYPYIDAW—A delegation of Indian military officials met with the regime’s Chief of the General Staff Maung Maung Aye in the capital Naypyidaw on Monday. The delegation was led by Ajai Kumar Singh, a retired Indian military general.
Regime media reported that the parties discussed military cooperation between Burma and India. Other regime officials were also present at the meeting. New Delhi has maintained close ties with Naypyidaw since the 2021 coup. Pro-democracy group India for Myanmar has called for a reassessment of this approach.
