Min Aung Hlaing arrives in China
Explosives were detonated by unknown assailants on the runway and parking lot of the Ayelar Air Force base in the capital Naypyidaw on Tuesday. This occurred shortly after regime leader Min Aung Hlaing and his delegation departed for China, sources close to the Burma Air Force told DVB on the condition of anonymity.
“If it had exploded when they were leaving, everyone would have died. They were homemade bombs made with PVC [polyvinyl chloride] pipes. They are now searching the airfield for any remaining bombs,” one of the sources told DVB. The Ayelar Air Force base was previously attacked by resistance forces in July and April.
Min Aung Hlaing reportedly met with Chinese business people to encourage investment in Burma upon arrival to Kunming. He is scheduled to attend the summits of the Greater Mekong Subregion, Cambodia-Lao PDR-Myanmar-Vietnam, and the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy from Nov. 6-7.
Yangon residents complain about electricity cuts
Yangon residents told DVB that they have only received two hours of electricity during the daytime since October, despite the regime’s Department of Electrical Power claiming that it is providing four hours of electricity to residential areas of the city on a rotating basis.
“We only got a maximum of two hours of electricity in the day. It is not even okay to cook meals. They [military] don’t even provide electricity on a rotating basis, what else do we hope for?” asked a Thingangyun resident. Industrial zones have also been informed that they will only receive four hours of electricity per day instead of the previous eight hours.
A source from the regime’s Department of Electrical Power told DVB on the condition of anonymity that power cuts are due to the decreasing production of electricity and it may get worse in the future. The regime announced on Aug. 30 that it would increase the cost of electricity for households and businesses in September.
Regime personnel defect to the Kachin Independence Army
The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) claimed that over 60 military personnel and members of pro-regime militias, including the Kachin Border Guard Force (BGF), defected in Kangfang village, located in Chipwi Township of northeastern Kachin State along the China-Burma border, on Nov. 4.
“BGF and [pro-military] People’s Militia members from Chipwi and Kangfang came to join us, and we welcomed them warmly. They joined us with unified intent,” a KIA officer told DVB after it took control of the village. Kangfang is located in the Kachin Special Region 1, which is administered by the Kachin BGF for the regime in Naypyidaw.
The region is a hub for Burma’s lucrative rare earth mining, which was reportedly worth $1.4 billion USD last year. Resistance forces led by the KIA also took control of the China-Burma border town of Phimaw in Chipwi Township on Nov. 2. Chinese authorities closed the border gate in Phimaw on Oct. 26. Only two official gates remain open along the China-Burma border in Kachin and Shan states.
News by Region
CHINLAND—The military set fire to a government housing compound in Mindat, which is located 171 miles (275 km) south of the Chinland capital Hakha, on Sunday. “They took whatever they wanted from the housing compound before setting it on fire. Nobody wanted to extinguish the fire as the military shot at civilians who tried to put out the flames last time,” a Mindat resident told DVB.
Nearly 40 homes in Mindat were destroyed due to arson attacks conducted by the military in August and September. A spokesperson of the Mindat People’s Administration, a resistance group that administers parts of Mindat Township, told DVB that around 75 percent of residents have been displaced from their homes since fighting between the Chinland Defense Force (CDF) and the military began in April 2021.
SAGAING—More than 90 civilians from villages in Kanbalu Township, which is located around 103 miles (166 km) north of the Sagaing Region capital Monywa, have been arrested by the pro-military forces, including the Pyusawhti militia, since Oct. 30.
“More than 50 from Bugyi village were arrested by the military on Monday,” a resident told DVB. “People aged between 18-50 years were taken.” More than 2,500 Kanbalu Township residents have been displaced from their homes due to arson attacks conducted by pro-military forces.
SHAN—The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) announced on Sunday that 34 civilians have been killed and 87 others have been injured by attacks in Hsipaw, Nawnghkio, Kutkai and Namhsan townships in northern Shan State since October. At least 101 homes and two monasteries have been destroyed.
“Airstrikes over towns and villages are targeting innocent civilians,” a TNLA spokesperson told DVB. Fighting between the TNLA and the military in Hsipaw and Nawnghkio townships began in June, when resistance forces launched ‘Operation Shan-Man’ by attacking military outposts in northern Shan State and neighboring Mandalay Region.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,500 kyat)
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