First batch of conscripts complete two-years of military service
A ceremony was held in the Karenni State capital Loikaw on April 3 for the first 385 male conscripts, aged 18 to 35, drafted into military service upon the completion of their mandated two-years under the conscription law, which was enforced on Feb. 10, 2024. Training for the first batch of military conscripts began across Burma on April 8, 2024, according to the regime.
Zin Yaw, a former captain in the Burma Army who defected to join the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) following the 2021 military coup, told DVB that the military may release some conscripts while attempting to retain others as full-time soldiers. “We need to monitor their releases,” he said. The ceremony on April 3 is the first reported instance of conscripts completing their two-years of military service.
Nationwide conscription has now reached its 23rd round with the 21st round of conscripts reported to have completed military training earlier this month, according to the regime. A source in Yangon who assists conscripts to evade military service told DVB that none of the males conscripted into the military over the last two years have returned to their family homes. Read more
Min Aung Hlaing selects 30 ministers for 31 ministries
Min Aung Hlaing, voted by pro-military lawmakers as president on April 3, presented the names of the 30 ministers to lead the proposed 31 ministries at a session of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, Burma’s bicameral parliament, in Naypyidaw on Tuesday. His written message was announced by the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw speaker Aung Lin Dwe as Min Aung Hlaing did not attend the April 7 parliamentary session.
Tun Aung, the Burma Air Force chief, was nominated Minister of Defence. Nyunt Win Swe, the commander of the Yangon Regional Military Command (RMC) from 2020-23, was nominated Home Affairs minister. Tin Maung Swe, Burma’s ambassador to China from 2022-25, was nominated as Foreign Affairs minister. Under the 2008 constitution, all three posts are entitled to seats on the 11-member National Defence and Security Council (NDSC).
A total of 12 new ministerial nominees were announced with the other 18 being incumbent regime ministers. The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw approved Min Aung Hlaing’s proposal to form 31 ministries on April 7 after he proposed six new ministries: Women Affairs, Youth Affairs, President’s Office, Industry and Small and Medium Enterprise Development, Digital Development and Communications, and Hotels, Tourism and Culture.
British MPs urge ICC arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing
Eleven British members of parliament have signed the “Early Day Motion (EDM) 526,” which is a formal parliamentary proposal supporting the International Criminal Court (ICC) request for an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing. The motion adds to growing international efforts to hold Min Aung Hlaing accountable for alleged crimes committed by the military before and after the 2021 coup.
“What is done through the U.K. Parliament is important for us,” Tun Khin, the president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK), told DVB. “We are still waiting for the ICC to issue an arrest warrant.” The EDM 526, titled “ICC arrest warrant for General Min Aung Hlaing,” was introduced by Shockat Adam, an independent MP for Leicester South, on Dec. 9, 2024, along with six other British MPs.
ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan requested an arrest warrant to be filed against Min Aung Hlaing on Nov. 27, 2024. The charges include crimes against humanity for his military’s “security clearance” operations in 2016-17 against the Rohingya. The U.S. declared the 2017 Myanmar military operations in Rakhine State, which led to over 700,000 Rohingya to flee into Bangladesh, as genocide. Read more
News by Region
KACHIN—The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) rejected an April 5 regime media report on Monday as “fabricated.” It reported that eight KIA and People’s Defense Force (PDF) members gave up “armed opposition” and attended a “handover ceremony” in the state capital Myitkyina on April 4.
“There was no such defection,” Naw Bu, the KIA spokesperson, told DVB. Fighting over control of Hpakant Township between the KIA and regime forces resumed on Sunday. Hpakant is located 94-158 miles (151-254 km) west and northwest of the state capital Myitkyina and the KIA headquarters of Laiza.
NAYPYIDAW—The regime’s Ministry of Energy claimed on Monday that it has 40 days of gasoline and 50 days of diesel in reserve, adding that 36 shiploads of fuel will be imported in April. It reported that the daily fuel consumption dropped from 3.54 million gallons to 2.5 million gallons, saving $6 million USD in its fuel rationing measures from Feb. 20 to April 6.
One litre of 92-octane gasoline increased 4,450-4,625 MMK ($1.05-1.10 USD) but 95-octane gasoline decreased 4,975-4,780 MMK ($1.18-1.13 USD) April 2-7, according to the regime-controlled Petroleum Products Regulatory Department. The price of diesel and premium diesel is up 5,450-5,680 MMK ($1.29-1.35 USD) and 6,085-6,805 MMK ($1.44-1.62 USD).
SAGAING—Residents of Shwebo Township told DVB that a Buddhist monk and one woman were killed by airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on Monday. An unknown number were injured. Shwebo is located 57 miles (91 km) northeast of the region’s capital Monywa.
A PDF member told DVB that two fighter jets dropped seven bombs on a monastery in Sinin village after taking off from neighbouring Mandalay Region’s Meiktila and Tada-U Air Force bases. Residents displaced from their homes in Shwebo have been sheltering at the monastery.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,200 MMK)
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