FROM THE DVB NEWSROOM

Military personnel search for missing conscripts

The military is searching for men in Yangon who left their homes after their names were selected in a draft lottery for military conscription. A North Okkalapa Township resident said that military personnel have been going door-to-door checking guest lists for names on their lists of conscripts already this month. 

Mayangone Township residents reported that families are being pressured to find their loved ones who may be evading conscription. Military personnel were accused of threatening relatives of conscripts if they are not brought forth for military training immediately. Others selected for military conscription have reported being subjected to physical violence when they were rounded up by the soldiers.

The military has organized ceremonies to welcome new conscripts at training facilities in Yangon. Pro-military social media channels have circulated images of military uniforms being distributed to the conscripts. Resistance forces have urged those wishing to evade military conscription to seek refuge in its territories.

Chinese military holds live-fire exercises near Burma border

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) announced that it is conducting live-fire combat drills on the Chinese side of its border with Burma on Tuesday. The South China Morning Post reported that it will occur in the Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province near its border with Kachin State. 

“The troops of [the] PLA Southern Theater Command are always ready to deal with various emergencies, and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, border stability, as well as the safety of people’s lives and property,” said Tian Junli, a PLA spokesperson. 

The drills come as the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Burma Army continue to clash near the border with China in northern Burma. The KIA seized the border town of Loije (Lwegel) on Friday. Read more here. 

Free Burma Rangers claims six killed in airstrike 

The Free Burma Rangers (FBR) released a video on Monday claiming that six civilians, including a monk, were killed and 15 others were injured in an airstrike carried out on Hpapun town, Karen State, on March 31. It stated that the military carried out an airstrike on a monastery where civilians were hiding. 

“This is Easter Sunday and we have over six people killed and over ten wounded,” said David Eubank, FBR founder and director. The video shows there were Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) sheltering inside the building, along with those injured. Five bodies were covered in blankets. 

Saw Kler Doh, a spokesperson of Karen National Union (KNU), told DVB on March 30 that it is in control of Hpapun but there are daily airstrikes and artillery that have forced more than 1,000 residents to flee their homes to seek shelter in the forest. The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) seized Hpapun on March 19 after a week of fighting. 

News by Region

AYEYARWADY—At least seventeen inmates, including political prisoners and a prison staff member, were injured after soldiers were sent in to assist authorities to end a riot inside Pyapon Prison on Sunday. The injured have reportedly been hospitalized.

“The authorities spread false news that the prisoners attempted to escape from prison. But in fact, the prisoners could not bear being blackmailed and tortured by the prison authorities,” said an anonymous source from the prison. Security patrols have increased in Pyapon town. 

CHINLAND—Mindat Township residents said a home, a church, and five vehicles were destroyed by airstrikes in No. 2 village on Monday. “Three fighter jets flew two times and dropped bombs. Luckily, no one was injured. Their reconnaissance drones flew all day before the airstrikes,” said a Mindat resident. Homes were destroyed as a result of artillery fire on April 1. 

MON—A group calling itself the Kyaikhto Revolutionary Force claimed it killed a 70-year-old man named Mya Aye in his home on Monday. They accused Mya Aye of collecting names of those eligible for military conscription. The group warned the public that anyone helping the military enforce its conscription law will face “consequences.” 

YANGON—An international organization told the families of seven political prisoners, jailed at Insein Prison, on Monday that their loved ones were killed by prison staff while allegedly attempting to escape in February 2023. The authorities reportedly took the seven prisoners outside of the prison and ordered them to show where they had stored weapons.

“We have been told by [the international organization] that all of them were shot and killed in Hlaingthaya Township for resisting,” said the mother of a political prisoner who was killed. The seven prisoners were sentenced for the murder of 10 civilians, including a retired military veteran, in Hlaing Township in January 2023. The prisoners were transferred to Insein Prison in February 2023.