Over 30 killed by airstrikes in Mandalay Region this month
Aid groups in Singu Township of Mandalay Region told DVB that three civilians were killed and at least six others were injured by an airstrike carried out by the Burma Air Force near Letpanhla village on Monday. This is the third airstrike reported in the area this month. At least 29 people, including six children, have been reported killed and over 40 others have been injured by two previous airstrikes on March 4 and 14.
“Two women and one man who had fled [their homes during] the previous airstrikes were killed after a fighter jet dropped a bomb over the place they were sheltering in,” an aid group called Yaung Ni Nway Oo told DVB. Singu is located along the Mandalay-Mogok Road 126 miles (202 km) north of the region’s capital Mandalay. It is partially controlled by the People’s Defense Force (PDF).
“The village is controlled by the PDF but the [regime] targets civilians. They are continuously committing war crimes,” a PDF spokesperson in Singu told DVB. The National Unity Government (NUG) Ministry of Human Rights stated on Sunday that it has been rigorously documenting all regime airstrikes targeting civilians to share with the international community.
Myanmar civil society groups want investigation into UN special envoy
Regional and international civil society organizations called on the U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to urgently open an investigation into alleged conflicts of interest over the business activities of his U.N. Special Envoy on Burma Julie Bishop, and to make the findings of this investigation public. Guterres appointed Bishop to the position on April 5.
“We also call on the U.N. General Assembly to immediately end the mandate of the Special Envoy, and on the Secretary-General to assume a leadership role in addressing the crisis in Myanmar directly,” the 290 civil society groups shared in a press release on March 17. It added that the lives of the people in Burma are in jeopardy.
Bishop denied there was a conflict of interest in her position as U.N. envoy after becoming a strategic advisor to Energy Transition Minerals (ETM) in January through her consulting firm. One major shareholder in an ETM project is Shenghe Resources, a partly state-owned Chinese rare earths mining company with possible commercial interests in Burma.
Over 200,000 students sit matriculation exams nationwide
The regime Ministry of Education announced that over 200,000 students have registered to sit the 2025 matriculation exams nationwide from March 17-22. Regime media reported that over 94 percent of all students – 208,889 out of 220,843 – nationwide are taking the 2025 exams. A total of 817 exam centers have been opened, according to the ministry.
Among the 208,889; 37,468 in Yangon Region, 34,383 in Mandalay Region, 32,241 in Ayeyarwady Region, 22,081 in Bago Region, 17,862 in Magway Region, 14,760 in Shan State, 12,552 in Naypyidaw, 9,858 in Sagaing Region, 8,699 in Kachin State, 4,541 in Tanintharyi Region, 8,972 in Mon State, 3,348 in Karen State, 1,564 in Arakan State, 408 in Chinland, 132 in Karenni State, and 20 students abroad will sit the exams.
In Ayeyarwady, 245 exam centers have been opened. In Sagaing, 35 have been opened in 21 out of the 40 townships. Shan has five exam centers with two located in the eastern part and three in the northern part of the state. Arakan has eight exam centers opened in three townships under regime control. Chinland has two. Karenni has one. In 2024, a total of 128,820 students sat the exams, according to the regime.
News by Region
BAGO—Residents in Bago Township told DVB that regime officials and police confiscated 25 disposable cups featuring pagoda images from a branch of the Shwe Palin restaurant on Saturday. The restaurant is located at the 39-mile rest stop along the Yangon-Mandalay Expressway 56 miles (90 km) north of Yangon.
“[Officials] said that the cups could end up in rubbish bins, which would insult [Buddhism],” a Bago resident told DVB. Pro-military social media channels criticized the restaurant for using the cups to serve tea, claiming it was disrespectful. There have been no similar reports at other branches.
KACHIN—A fire destroyed the St. Patrick Catholic Church in Bhamo Township on Sunday. Bhamo is located 120 miles (193 km) south of the Kachin State capital Myitkyina and 58 miles (93 km) southwest of Laiza, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) headquarters.
“The church was reduced to ashes,” a source close to the KIA told DVB on condition of anonymity. The Radio Veritas Asia Kachin Service, a non-commercial Catholic shortwave radio station, confirmed the destruction of the church, which was established in 1958.
MANDALAY—Residents and resistance forces in Thabeikkyin Township told DVB that up to 1,000 regime troops have been deployed to Twinnge and 7-Mile villages, located along the Mandalay-Myitkyina Road. Thabeikkyin is located 90 miles (144 km) north of Mandalay.
“Regime troops that withdrew from Mogok [Mandalay Region] and Momeik [Shan State] have arrived at 7-Mile and Twinnge,” a Thabeikkyin resident told DVB. Thabeikkyin has been under the control of resistance forces since Aug. 25. Twingge village was seized on Aug. 17. Read more.
SAGAING—Residents in Wetlet Township and Madaya Township of Mandalay Region told DVB that four civilians were killed and seven others were injured by airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on two villages located east and west of the Irrawaddy River on Sunday.
“Two elders, a 30-year-old woman, and a six-month-old boy were killed by the airstrike,” a Sinkaimyok village resident in Wetlet told DVB. “We don’t know exactly how many casualties there were because telecommunications in the village have been cut off for a long time,” a Mwaymyazon village resident in Madaya told DVB.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,380 MMK)
DVB Peacock Film Festival is flying to Australia on March 29. Stay tuned to DVB English News for more on X, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, TikTok & YouTube.
