Five civilians killed by airstrikes in Mandalay Region
At least five civilians were killed and 15 others were injured in four airstrikes carried out on Mandalay Region’s Thayetkaung Pin village by the Burma Air Force on Saturday, Mahlaing Township residents told DVB. They added that two Air Force fighter jets were spotted in the sky before the strikes occurred. Mahlaing is located 75 miles (120 km) south of the region’s capital Mandalay.
The People’s Defence Force (PDF) in Mahlaing told DVB that three of the civilians killed in the airstrikes were teenagers. He added that they were students returning home from a weekend class at the time of the attack. Students in Mahlaing attend schools operated by the regime in Naypyidaw. The PDF stated that it was not present in the village during the airstrikes.
Four Mahlaing residents were reportedly killed during motorized paraglider attacks on March 26. At least 149 people have been killed and 277 others have been injured by regime aerial attacks, including airstrikes, paramotors, gyrocopters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), or drone strikes, since Min Aung Hlaing announced a “100-day plan” for peace on April 20, according to DVB data.
Crisis Group reports on Myanmar’s ‘new administration’
A new report called “Myanmar’s New Administration: Military Consolidation, Not Transition” outlines how the elections, which ended on Jan. 25, provided a procedural mechanism to perpetuate military dominance under the 2008 constitution. It warns that the installation of regime leader Min Aung Hlaing as president represents a consolidation of abusive military power rather than a genuine transition.
“The uniforms may have changed to civilian clothes, but this is not a political transition. The elections have consolidated military rule behind a constitutional façade, while leaving the drivers of armed conflict and economic decline largely unchanged,” said Richard Horsey, the senior Burma advisor at the International Crisis Group (ICG)—a global non-profit think tank specializing in conflict that published the report.
The ICG urged the international community to make Burma a higher priority among global conflicts. Its report recommends that any engagement with Naypyidaw must avoid conferring unwarranted legitimacy on Min Aung Hlaing, and must maintain existing targeted sanctions, and must significantly expand humanitarian and livelihood assistance through non-state channels. Read more
Aung San Suu Kyi’s son demands ‘proof of life’ in Australia
In an emotional and politically charged speech during his first-ever visit to Australia on June 4, Kim Aris, the youngest son of Burma’s jailed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, issued a stark demand to Min Aung Hlaing’s regime: provide immediate, independently verified proof that his mother is still alive.
Speaking ahead of Aung San Suu Kyi’s 81st birthday on June 19, Aris leveled a blistering critique against the regime, which seized state power in Naypyidaw during the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021, accusing them of using “hostage diplomacy” and “psychological warfare” to manipulate the international community following their widely condemned sham elections.
Aris flatly rejected the regime’s recent claims that his mother had been moved to house arrest. “To this day, not a single shred of independently verified proof of life or evidence that she has actually been moved has been provided,” he said. “Ultimately, the regime’s lack of transparency speaks volumes, casting profound doubt over whether she is still alive.” Read more
News by Region
AYEYARWADY—Aid workers told DVB that an unknown number of residents from at least 27 households located along the Toe, Ngawun, Irrawaddy and Punhlaing rivers in Nyaungdon, Pantanaw, Myanaung, Danubyu, Ngathaingchaung, Kyangin and Hinthada townships were relocated due to riverbank erosion.
A source close to the regime’s Department of Disaster Management told DVB that there were no casualties due to a “timely” relocation plan. A Pantanaw resident told DVB that farmers have had their cropfields destroyed by landslides. The towns are located 57-146 miles (91-234 km) north of the region’s capital Pathein.
NAYPYIDAW—Sources told DVB that regime Deputy Minister for Immigration and Population Khaing Khaing Soe was appointed the regime spokesperson in May. She served as the director-general of the regime’s Ministry of Immigration and Population from 2021 until being appointed deputy minister on April 10.
Khaing Khaing Soe assumed the role of Min Aung Hlaing’s regime spokesperson after Zaw Min Tun, who had served since the 2021 coup, was dismissed and reportedly court-martialed for “abuse of power and corruption” on March 25. There has been no update from the regime regarding his case since then.
SHAN—Over 1,187 residents of Kaung Tat village in Namhkam Township have been left homeless and are in desperate need of emergency humanitarian aid following the explosion at a storage facility on May 31 that killed at least 56 people and damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes in the area.
The strategic border town of Namhkam, located just two miles south of the Burma-China border and 128 miles north of the regional capital Lashio, has been under the control of the ethnic armed group, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), since it was seized during Operation 1027 in late 2023. Read more
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