Min Aung Hlaing attends regional summit in Bangkok
Min Aung Hlaing arrived in Bangkok on Thursday to attend the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit, which ends April 4. BIMSTEC includes Thailand, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan. This is the regime leader’s first visit to Thailand since the 2021 military coup.
“We strongly condemn the decision to allow Min Aung Hlaing to participate in the BIMSTEC Summit,” Yadanar Maung, the Justice for Myanmar spokesperson shared in a press release on April 3. “This legitimises and emboldens a military junta that the people of Myanmar have been resisting for over four years.”
Both Burma and Thailand were impacted by the earthquake on March 28. DVB data states that the death toll in Burma stands at 3,901 with 2,485 bodies recovered in Mandalay—over 64 percent of the national total killed. At least 5,978 were injured, 493 were rescued, and 719 are still missing. The regime’s updated total is 3,085 killed, 4,715 injured, and 341 still missing, as of Thursday.
Naypyidaw violates ceasefire, residents say
Residents of Kale Township in Sagaing Region and Waingmaw Township of Kachin State told DVB that regime forces carried out arson and artillery attacks April 2-3, violating its own temporary ceasefire from April 2-22. Artillery hit three villages in southern Kale, which forced hundreds of residents to flee their homes. Kale is located 144 miles (232 km) north of the region’s capital Monywa.
“The military declared a ceasefire but its troops are conducting arson and artillery attacks on civilians,” a Kale resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Waingmaw residents told DVB that artillery was fired from the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 58 and the Northern Regional Military Command (RMC) in Myitkyina into Wuyan village on Thursday. No casualties were reported.
Waingmaw is located 30 miles (48 km) east of the Kachin State capital Myitkyina. On April 3, attacks by regime forces were reported by residents of Bhamo Township in southern Kachin State and Nyaung-U Township in Mandalay Region. On April 2, attacks were reported by residents in Ngapudaw Township of Ayeyarwady Region, as well as Yinmabin and Salingyi townships of Sagaing Region.
DVB has documented 10 regime ceasefire violations. See our infographic at the bottom of today’s newsletter.
Nearly 800 homes destroyed in Mandalay by fire
Over 3,000 residents of Seinban Ward in Maharaungmyay Township of Mandalay Region are in urgent need of food and water after nearly 800 homes were burned down in fires caused by the earthquake on March 28. “That ward was built on an old landfill site. Gas seeped out of the ground when the earthquake struck, causing the fire,” an aid worker told DVB.
An unknown number of Mandalay residents have spent the last week living outdoors. Rumours have been circulating online about home burglaries. “We’re all staying on the street 24 hours a day. It’s impossible for looters to sneak in without being noticed,” one Mandalay resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity. But another resident told DVB that he had 30 million MMK worth of luxury watches stolen from his home.
Following the earthquake, Thailand’s Meteorological Department Earthquake Observation Division recorded 290 aftershocks in central Burma. Ten had magnitudes from 5.0 to 5.9. The Burma Department of Meteorology and Hydrology has documented 66 aftershocks. Sagaing – the epicenter of the earthquake – as well as Mandalay, Magway, Bago, Naypyidaw, and southern Shan State were the regions hardest-hit.
News by Region
KARENNI—Karenni resistance forces stated on Wednesday that more than 60 regime troops were killed, and five regime outposts containing weapons and ammunition were seized, in Bawlakhe Township since March 4. Bawlakhe is located 52 miles (83 km) north of the state capital Loikaw.
“We will continue our military operation [against the regime],” Phone Naing, the commander-in-chief of the Karenni Army (KA), told DVB. The United Karenni State Army (UKSA) was formed on Nov. 18. It expressed its grief over the number killed in the earthquake on March 28.
MAGWAY—The People’s Defense Force (PDF) in Pauk Township told DVB that two civilians and two PDF members were killed by an artillery attack carried out by regime forces on Monday. Pauk is located 136 miles (218 km) north of the region’s capital Magway.
“A school teacher and two PDF members were shot and killed by [regime] troops,” a PDF spokesperson told DVB. He added that a 13-year-old girl was also killed, and at least three homes were destroyed, by artillery fired from the Directorate of Defence Industries (DDI), known in Burmese as KaPaSa, 24.
SAGAING—Residents of Salingyi and Yinmabin townships have been forced to flee their homes in villages located along the Pathein-Monywa road due to attacks by security forces leading a convoy transporting copper to the Myanmar Wanbao Mining Company Ltd. since Wednesday.
“Around 100 [regime troops] are still taking positions along [the] road in order to protect the convoy,” a Salingyi resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Salingyi and Yinmabin are located 26-28 miles (41-45 km) south of the region’s capital Monywa. Salingyi is home to the Letpadaung, Sapetaung, and Kyesintaun copper mines.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,430 MMK)
The regime has carried out 68 attacks nationwide since the earthquake on March 28. It has carried out 10 of them since it announced a three-week ceasefire on April 2. (Credit: DVB)
