Malaysia Foreign Minister visits Myanmar to meet regime
Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan visited Myanmar on Thursday for talks with the regime, which seized power during a military coup on Feb. 1, 2021, to discuss its upcoming elections and how to implement the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Five-Point Consensus, the regional bloc’s peace plan.
Hasan made a one-day visit to Naypyidaw in Malaysia’s capacity as this year’s chair of ASEAN. He will meet regime leader Min Aung Hlaing, as well as the regime’s prime minister and its foreign minister, Malaysia’s government stated.
Myanmar’s regime have been barred from high-level ASEAN meetings since 2022 for failing to honor commitments Min Aung Hlaing made when he agreed to the ASEAN peace plan in April 2021 – two months after he ousted the National League for Democracy (NLD) government and jailed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. Read more.
Death toll in Sagaing Region paramotor attack reaches 40
At least 40 have died after the Burma Air Force carried out motorized paraglider attacks on a sit-in protest in Bonto village of Chaung-U Township on Oct. 6, residents in Sagaing Region told DVB on Thursday. One resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that the attacks would not stop anti-regime protests from resuming. Chaung-U is located 16 miles (25 km) south of the Sagaing Region capital Monywa.
At least 30 residents were killed and 50 were injured during the attack on Chaung-U on Oct. 6. At least another 10 people have succumbed to their injuries due to a lack of medicine and medical treatment since then, according to residents. “Attacking peaceful demonstrators is cruel,” Myint Htwe, the chairperson of the Sagaing Federal Unit Hluttaw (SFUH), told DVB.
The National Unity Government (NUG) stated that at least 24 civilians were killed during the paramotor attacks. It added that the regime had committed a total of 546 human rights violations against civilians last month. At least 1,849 civilians have been killed by a total of 2,321 airstrikes on territory controlled by resistance forces in Burma since January, according to DVB data. Read more.
Airstrikes kill two in northern Shan State’s Mongngaw
Two civilians were killed by airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force in Mongngaw town, northern Shan State, on Wednesday, residents of Kyaukme Township told DVB. Mongngaw is located 97 miles (156 km) west of the regional capital Lashio. It was seized by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in August 2024.
A Mongngaw resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that two civilians were also injured by the airstrikes and are receiving treatment for their injuries. The TNLA confirmed the number of casualties. Ten civilians, including one child, were killed and three others were injured by airstrikes on Maikhuong village on Oct. 7, according to residents.
Nawnghkio and Kyaukme, located 68-96 miles (109-154 km) south of Lashio, were recaptured by regime forces from the TNLA. The regime counteroffensive is turning towards Hsipaw, Mongngawt and Monglon towns, which are also under TNLA control. Hsipaw is located 22 miles (35 km) east of Kyaukme. Mongngaw and Monglon are located 31-55 miles (49-88 km) north of Kyaukme.
News by Region
ARAKAN—Myanmar Women in Media (MWiM), the Burmese Women’s Union (BWU), and Sisters 2 Sisters, expressed concern over the continued detention of Mu Dra, a reporter for Border News Agency (BNA), who was detained by the Arakan Army (AA) on Sept. 20.
“We still haven’t been able to contact her. Her father was allowed to see her for just one day, and since then the AA has refused him access, so he had to stop trying,” Kaung Myat Naing, the BNA editor-in-chief, told Development Media Group (DMG). Read more
AYEYARWADY—A source close to the regime’s Department of Disaster Management told DVB that over 30 homes were damaged or destroyed by strong winds in the region last month. Five homes in the region’s capital Pathein District were reportedly destroyed by strong winds, the source added.
“The authorities provided us with some allowance and building materials, but they were not enough to build a new home. Now, I’m living in a temporary shelter,” a resident of Thabaung Township told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Thabaung is located 28 miles (km) north of Pathein.
KACHIN—The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) told DVB that the ethnic armed group seized two regime outposts in Waingmaw Township on Wednesday. Waingmaw is located 30 miles (48 km) east of the state capital Myitkyina and 63 miles (101 km) north of the KIA headquarters at Laiza.
“Outposts keep changing hands — sometimes seized by the military, sometimes by us,” Naw Bu, the KIA spokesperson, told DVB. The regime counteroffensive to retake Waingmaw, as well as rare earth mining hubs of Chipwi and Pangwa towns, began in April, after being seized by the KIA in November.
NAYPYIDAW—Myanmar Football Federation President, and Senior Vice President of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Zaw Zaw was elected as the chairperson of the FIFA Football Social Responsibility Committee during its October meeting. He will serve in this role until 2029.
Zaw Zaw also serves as the chairperson of the AFC Social Affairs Committee and is a member of the AFC Dream Asia Foundation board of trustees. He was awarded the AFC Dream Asia Award in 2013, the ASEAN Goodwill Award in 2014 and 2017, as well as the AFC Distinguished Service Award in 2024.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,100 MMK)
Watch: Steps Forward [DVB Short Docs 2024] with ENG subtitles, via DVB TV News. Find DVB English News on X, FB, IG, Threads, TikTok & Bluesky. Subscribe to us on YouTube.
