Early voting for regime elections held at Myanmar embassies
A Burma national in South Korea told DVB that he overheard a diplomat from the Burma embassy saying that “no voter” came to cast a ballot during early voting, or advanced polls, at the embassy on Saturday. Protests against the regime’s 2025-26 elections were held in the capital Seoul and Daegu, which is located 193 miles (310 km) southeast of Seoul.
Kyaw San, a Burma national and pro-democracy activist living in South Korea, told DVB that protestors urged the diplomat to stop working for the regime at the protest near the Burma embassy in Seoul. Another Burma national in South Korea, who spoke to DVB on the condition of anonymity, said that the poll was “hastily arranged” and that there was no outreach to migrant workers and others from Burma living or working in South Korea.
The regime’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that early voting had begun on Monday at its embassies in Tokyo, Japan, Dec. 1–2, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Dec. 2, New Delhi, India, Dec. 4-6, Beijing, China, Dec. 5-6, and in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 6-7. It has begun to collect the ballots and will begin counting them ahead of the regime elections, which start in Burma on Dec. 28 and will continue into January 2026.
Eleven killed by airstrikes in northern Shan State’s Momeik
At least 11 civilians were killed by airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on Momeik Township in northern Shan State on Saturday, residents told DVB. Momeik was handed over to regime forces by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) on Nov. 30, as part of a China-brokered ceasefire deal reached on Oct. 29.
“Five of the deceased were residents displaced from their homes [due to fighting between regime and resistance forces] in Mogok Township [Mandalay Region],” a resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Momeik is located 170 miles (273 km) west of the regional capital Lashio, and 28 miles (45 km) northeast of Mogok.
Momeik residents told DVB that hundreds of regime troops arrived in the town last week. The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) told DVB that it fought with regime forces as they entered the town on Nov. 30. Momeik is 35 miles (56 km) south of northern Shan’s Mabein Township, which was seized by the KIA in January 2024.
People’s Defense Force ‘seizes’ outpost in Mandalay’s Mogok
The National Unity Government (NUG) Ministry of Defence announced on Saturday that the People’s Defense Force (PDF) seized a regime outpost in Mogok Township, Mandalay Region, during fighting with regime forces, which began on Nov. 30. Mogok, 124 miles (200 km) north of Mandalay, is a major source of revenue for both the regime and ethnic armed groups due to its lucrative ruby mining industry.
Mogok residents told DVB that the PDF launched a “guerrilla style” attack against regime forces after the TNLA completed its withdrawal and handed over the town, as a part of the China-brokered ceasefire, to the regime on Nov. 28. A statement from the NUG on Dec. 6 claimed that it had evacuated residents before the PDF attack began and is closely monitoring intermittent fighting with regime forces in Mogok.
A regime airstrike struck the outskirts of Mogok on Dec. 4, and artillery attacks were reported by residents on Dec. 3-4. No casualties were reported. Over 1,000 regime troops were escorted by the TNLA into Mogok during the last week of November, but no regime officials have arrived to take over administration, according to residents. The TNLA has now handed over both Mogok and Momeik to the regime. Read more
News by Region
SAGAING—At least 19 civilians were killed and over 30 others were injured by airstrikes in Marakan village, Depayin Township, that was carried out by the Burma Air Force on Friday, residents told DVB. Depayin, located 40 miles (64 km) north of the region’s capital Monywa, is partially under PDF control.
A Depayin resident told DVB that one of the airstrikes hit a tea shop while it was filled with customers, leading to the high number of casualties. The PDF told DVB that at least 10 airstrikes took place in multiple locations of Depayin on Friday. No casualties were reported from the Dec. 5 airstrikes.
BAGO—Five people, including a doctor in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), were killed and six others were injured during an attack on a clinic in Nyaungpintha village, Kyaukkyi Township, on Wednesday. Kyaukkyi is located 108 miles (173 km) northeast of the region’s capital Bago in Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 3 territory.
“Two gyropters attacked the village,” a Kyaukkyi resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity. The KNU has seized control of villages east of the Sittaung River. Regime forces have reportedly carried out a counteroffensive by launching air and artillery attacks since November.
MANDALAY—At least 300 regime troops and pro-military militia members destroyed nearly 70 shops at a hawker center near the Zay Cho Market in Chanmyathazi Township on Thursday to “punish” those accused of supporting pro-democracy leader Tayzar San’s anti-regime election protest on Dec. 3.
“Soldiers asked us if we knew Tayzar San’s whereabouts. When we told them ‘no,’ they destroyed our shops the next day,” a shopkeeper told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Tayzar San and other pro-democracy activists urged citizens to join a Silent Strike–to oppose the elections–on Dec. 10.
TANINTHARYI—An estimated 60 men out of 104 migrants deported from Thailand were conscripted by the military after arriving in Kawthaung Township on Wednesday. A total of 81 men and 23 women were deported after they had served sentences for immigration-related offenses at the Ranong Immigration Detention Center.
A labor official told DVB on the condition of anonymity that 21 men with National Registration Cards were released. He added that after medical checks at the 8-Mile Hospital in Kawthaung, 60 men were sent to a military training school in Myeik, which is 266 miles (428 km) north of Kawthaung and 152 miles (244 km) south of the region’s capital Dawei.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,005 MMK)
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