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Lashio returned to Naypyidaw control under Beijing mediation; Over 60,000 students to retake matriculation exams

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A regime convoy enters Lashio Township, northern Shan State, to complete its return of administration and military officials on April 22. (Credit: CJ)

Lashio returned to Naypyidaw control under Beijing mediation

Regime troops entered Lashio Township, northern Shan State, on Tuesday, according to Lashio residents. It was the final day the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) was scheduled to hand back control of the town to Naypyidaw as part of a China-brokered ceasefire agreement reached on Jan. 18.

“The [MNDAA] flags have been taken down in the town,” a Lashio resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Both MNDAA and regime personnel are now in Lashio, located 107 miles (172 km) south of the Burma-China border town of Muse and 243 miles (391 km) north of the Shan State capital Taunggyi.

A source close to the MNDAA told DVB that China’s consular office in Lashio will mediate. Chinese Special Envoy Deng Xijun is reportedly in the town to “ensure the ceasefire agreement is implemented.” Beijing reiterated that it continues to follow its policy of “non-interference” during a press conference on April 21. The regime will control Lashio town while the MNDAA will administer the outskirts, sources told DVB. 

Prisoners in Kachin State allegedly armed by regime

The regime has allegedly armed inmates and set up defensive posts at Bhamo Prison in Bhamo Township in Kachin State, a family member of a prisoner told DVB. 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.

“It’s not clear if the armed prisoners have permission to shoot,” the source told DVB on the condition of anonymity, adding that the prison authorities did not arm political prisoners. The KIA and allied resistance forces have surrounded the Military Operations Command (MOC) 21, which is located near the Bhamo Prison. 

Families of inmates told DVB that they have been denied visitation over the past six months. The regime released 378 political prisoners under its amnesty on April 17. None were reportedly released from Bhamo Prison, according to the Political Prisoners Network Myanmar (PPNM). The KIA announced a 20-day ceasefire April 2-22. It launched its offensive in southern Kachin on Dec. 4. 

Over 60,000 students to retake matriculation exams

More than 60,000 students in regions hardest hit by the March 28 earthquake; Mandalay, Sagaing and Naypyidaw will retake matriculation exams June 16-21, the regime Department of Myanmar Examinations announced on Tuesday. Students who want to retake the exam need to collect exam admission cards at their designated exam centers June 1-15. 

“There will be 19 exam centers at schools across Mandalay,” an education official from Mandalay told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Students from Sagaing will have to retake their exams at Sagaing Education Degree College. In Naypyidaw, 10 schools will reopen for the exams. 

The regime’s Ministry of Education announced that 400,000 exam papers from the 2025 matriculation exams, which were written by 62,954 students from Mandalay, Sagaing, Naypyidaw and Kachin State, were destroyed in a fire at Mandalay University caused by the earthquake on March 28.

News by Region

Resistance force and rescue group members in Thabeikkyin Township, Mandalay Region, inspect the destruction caused by an airstrike on April 18. (Credit: Min Khant Kyaw)

MANDALAY—A motorized paraglider attack killed three civilians, including a nine-year-old, and injured at least five others in Thanbo village of Taungtha Township on Monday. A People’s Defence Force (PDF) member told DVB there was no fighting with regime forces.  

An airstrike was carried out Sunday on Yayhtwak village in Thabeikkyin Township. No casualties were reported but an airstrike on Saturday killed at least 24 civilians and injured 20. “Thabeikkyin has been targeted by at least 14 airstrikes this month,” the PDF told DVB. Read more.

SAGAING—The Northwestern Regional Military Command (RMC) is being reinforced after Indaw town was seized by resistance forces on April 7, the PDF told DVB. Indaw, located 209 miles (336 km) north of the region’s capital Monywa, is a town that connects Sagaing Region to Kachin State.

The PDF added that 500 militia members from Kanbalu Township and over 400 troops from the Light Infantry Division (LID) 33 in Sagaing Township were dispatched to the Northwestern RMC headquarters. Sagaing and Kanbalu are 68-105 miles (109-169 km) east and north of Monywa.

SHAN—The Danu People’s Liberation Army (DPLA) accused the regime of using “poison gas” on the battlefield near Taunghkam village in Nawnghkio Township on Monday. DPLA members experienced a sudden drop in blood pressure, dizziness, and vomiting following exposure, a spokesperson told DVB.

Taunghkam is located 20 miles (32 km) south of Nawnghkio, which is 96 miles (154 km) south of the region’s capital Lashio and 147 miles (236 km) north of the state capital Taunggyi. Regime forces recaptured Artillery Battalions 206 and 406 in Taunghkam from the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in February after they were seized in August. 

(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,410 MMK) 

Naypyidaw extends ceasefire to support earthquake relief, regime media reports

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People queue for food and relief supplies after the March 28 earthquake in Amarapura Township of Mandalay Region on April 1, 2025. (Credit: Reuters)

The regime in Naypyidaw has extended a temporary ceasefire in its conflict with resistance groups to April 30, in a move to expedite relief and rebuilding efforts following a devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake on March 28, regime media reported on Tuesday.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 10-member regional bloc, last week held rare high-level talks with regime leader Min Aung Hlaing and a key resistance group in an effort to pause the ongoing fighting and support humanitarian aid operations.

The 7.7 magnitude earthquake late last month, which had its epicenter near Myanmar’s Mandalay city, has killed more than 3,700 people, flattened communities and crippled infrastructure in the impoverished Southeast Asian nation.

Myanmar has been ravaged by conflict since a 2021 military coup that unseated an elected civilian government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, triggering a massive protest movement that evolved into a nationwide civil war.

Regime media reported that Min Aung Hlaing extended an initial 20-day ceasefire, announced on April 2, “out of sympathy and understanding for the people of the country affected by the Mandalay earthquake”.

Despite the early April ceasefire announcement, the regime has continued military operations in some areas, including airstrikes, according to the U.N. and other groups.

REUTERS

Russia’s Rosatom to proceed with Myanmar nuclear plant despite earthquake

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Min Aung Hlaing with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 4. (Credit: RIA Novosti)

A plan to build a nuclear power plant will continue in Myanmar, a war-torn Southeast Asian country partly devastated by a massive earthquake in March, the Russian state-owned firm leading the project told Reuters.

Myanmar regime leader Min Aung Hlaing and Russian President Vladimir Putin last month signed an agreement for a small-scale nuclear facility, three weeks before the 7.7 magnitude quake flattened communities and left more than 3,700 people dead – the country’s deadliest natural disaster in decades.

The agreement involves cooperation to build a Small Modular Reactor (SMR) in Myanmar with an initial 110 MW capacity, consisting of two 55 MW reactors manufactured by Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom.

“The recent earthquake has not affected Rosatom’s plans in Myanmar,” the company’s press office said in an email.

“Rosatom adheres to the highest international safety and reliability standards, including strict seismic resistance requirements.”

The company’s intention to go ahead with the nuclear plan despite the quake, which crippled critical infrastructure, has not been previously reported.

Rosatom declined to provide any construction timeline or details of the location of the proposed nuclear facility that will be powered by RITM-200N reactors, which were made by the company for use initially on icebreaker ships.

A Myanmar regime spokesman did not respond to calls from Reuters seeking comment.

The push for nuclear power in Myanmar comes amid an expanding civil war triggered by a 2021 military coup that removed the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Facing a collection of established ethnic armies and new armed groups set up in the wake of the coup, the regime has lost ground across large parts of the country and increasing leaned on its few foreign allies, including Russia.

The conflict, which stretches from the border with China to the coast along the Bay of Bengal, has displaced more than 3.5 million people and left Myanmar’s mainly agrarian economy is tatters.

Myanmar is currently evaluating options for financing the Russia-backed nuclear power project. “This may involve both own and borrowed funds,” Rosatom stated. In places such as Bangladesh and Egypt, Russia has funded conventional nuclear power projects through low interest loans.

Authorities in neighbouring Thailand, which is closely monitoring Myanmar’s nuclear developments, assess that a plant could be built in Naypyidaw, a fortified purpose-built capital that was heavily damaged by the earthquake, according to a security source briefed on the matter.

Two other potential sites include a location in the central Bago Region and the Dawei Special Economic Zone in southern Myanmar, where the regime and Russia have announced plans to build a port and an oil refinery, according to the Thai assessment.

Money and manpower

Southeast Asia’s first nuclear facility – the 621 MW Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in the Philippines – was finished in 1984 with a price tag of $2.3 billion USD but mothballed in the wake of the Chornobyl disaster, opens new tab in the then Soviet Union two years later.

The Philippines and other regional countries have since mounted repeated efforts to explore nuclear energy but made limited progress.

Vietnam is, however, renewing a bet on nuclear power after it suspended its programme in 2016.

Russia and Myanmar have been collaborating in the sector for years, with Burmese students studying nuclear energy and related subjects in Russian universities under government quotas since 2019, according to Rosatom.

In comparison to a large conventional nuclear power reactor, components of SMRs can be assembled and transported as a single unit to the installation location, according the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“I do not foresee any complication, technology-wise,” said Doonyapong Wongsawaeng, a lecturer at the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University.

“I feel that the main challenge would instead be the continuous commitment from the Myanmar government.”

With the Myanmar regime prioritising exports of natural gas, which could be used to fuel cheaper domestic power generation, to earn foreign exchange, the nuclear plan makes no economic sense for a cash-strapped administration, said Richard Horsey, senior Myanmar adviser at International Crisis Group.

“Nuclear power is very expensive, and Myanmar simply can’t afford it,” he said.

REUTERS

China sends team to Myanmar to monitor ceasefire, foreign ministry says

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China Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun told media at a press conference in Beijing on April 21 that China follows a "non-interference" policy in other countries’ internal affairs, including Myanmar. (Credit: China Foreign Affairs Ministry)

China has recently sent a team to Myanmar to monitor a ceasefire it brokered between the country’s ruling military regime and an anti-regime resistance group, China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday, signalling its deepening involvement in an expanding civil war.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since 2021 when its powerful military deposed an elected civilian government, sparking a nationwide protest movement that has morphed into an armed rebellion against the regime.

The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), mainly made up of ethnic Chinese, last year seized control of a major military headquarters in Lashio near the border with China, as part of an offensive in the country that has wrested territory out of regime control.

In January, following talks between the regime and the MNDAA in China’s Kunming, Beijing said the warring sides had signed a formal agreement for a ceasefire.

In recent days, some retgime officials have returned to Lashio, with military vehicles also seen in the northern city on Tuesday, Myanmar media reported.

Reuters could not independently verify the information.

“The two parties appreciate and thank China for its constructive role in safeguarding peace and stability in northern Myanmar,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular press conference.

“Going forward, China will continue to push forward the Kunming peace talks.”

The MNDAA is part of the so-called Brotherhood Alliance, three ethnic armed groups that launched an offensive against the military in late October 2023, gaining control of wide areas on the border with China and pushing the regime out of northern Shan State.

The MNDAA-regime agreement is separate from a broader ceasefire that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been pushing for to allow delivery of more humanitarian aid into Myanmar, which was ravaged by a devastating earthquake on March 28 that has killed over 3,700 people.

REUTERS

Over 100 killed in regime attacks since Myanmar Thingyan festival

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Resistance force and rescue group members in Thabeikkyin Township, Mandalay Region, inspect the destruction caused by an airstrike on April 18. (Credit: Min Khant Kyaw)

A motorized paraglider attack killed three civilians, including a nine-year-old, and injured at least five others, in Thanbo village of Taungtha Township, Mandalay Region, on Monday.

“There was neither [People’s Defence Force] camp nor ongoing fighting [with regime forces] in the village,” a People’s Defence Force (PDF) member told DVB.  

An airstrike on April 18 killed two and injured five in Nanti village of Taungtha, which is located 83 miles (133 km) southwest of the region’s capital Mandalay. 

At least six people were killed and seven others were injured by airstrikes on Thindaw village in Kanbalu Township, Sagaing Region, on April 20.

“There was no ongoing battle in the area,” Kyaw Gyi, a Kanbalu resident, told DVB. Kanbalu is located 105 miles (169 km) north of the region’s capital Monywa. 

An airstrike was carried out the same day on Yayhtwak village in Thabeikkyin Township, Mandalay Region, but no casualties were reported by the PDF. A previous airstrike on Saturday killed at least 24 civilians and injured 20, the PDF added. 

“Thabeikkyin has been targeted by at least 14 airstrikes this month,” the PDF in Mandalay Region told DVB. 

On April 18, the PDF reported that at least 13 civilians were killed and an unknown number were injured by airstrikes on Yayhtwak and Laikkya villages in Thabeikkyin. An unknown number of homes and shops were destroyed by fire caused by the airstrikes. 

The two villages are located along the Mandalay-Mogok highway, where locals engage in gold mining for their livelihoods. Thabeikkyin is located 90 miles (144 km) north of Mandalay and has been under the control of the National Unity Government (NUG) since Aug. 25. 

Reports online state that the regime has increased the use of airstrikes in “Operation Yan Naing Min” to reclaim lost territory in Sagaing, Mandalay and Magway regions. This counteroffensive began in September and has overwhelmingly targeted civilians, according to residents and the PDF. 

The NUG administers Khampat, Mawlu, Pinlebu, Shwe Pyi Aye, Myothit and Indaw towns in Sagaing Region, as well as Singu, Tagaung and Thabeikkyin towns in Mandalay Region.

“We’ve been experiencing airstrikes, drone, and paramotor attacks almost daily,” a PDF member in Sagaing Region told DVB. Air raid shelters and trenches have been constructed by residents to hide during the air and artillery strikes.

At least two Buddhist monks were killed and another two were injured by an airstrike on a monastery in Thaminchan village of Kanni Township, Sagaing Region, on April 14. Kanni is located 37 miles (59 km) northwest of Monywa. 

Pro-military channels on social media have claimed that regime airstrikes are targeting the PDF and the NUG. Both are considered “terrorist” organizations by the regime in Naypyidaw. The NUG and PDF also claim that the military, which seized power after the 2021 coup, is also “terrorist.” 

On the first day of the Thingyan water festival on April 13, two civilians were killed and at least 10 others were injured by an airstrike on Chaunggyi village in Thabeikkyin. Nearly 15 homes were destroyed in the attack, the PDF in Mandalay Region told DVB. 

Thabeikkyin residents said that at least 50 civilians have been killed in 14 airstrikes from the start of the Thingyan festival up to April 20. 

Over 20 airstrikes have been carried out by the Myanmar Air Force on Thabeikkyin, Singu, Ngazun and Madaya townships of Mandalay Region from April 13-16. All the towns are either partially or totally controlled by the NUG. Singu, Ngazun and Madaya are located 23-128 miles (37-202 km) north of Mandalay. 

At least 101 people have been killed and 231 others have been injured in 92 air and artillery attacks carried out by the regime in central Myanmar from April 13 – the first day of Thingyan – until April 21, according to DVB data. 

The regime has carried out 217 air and artillery attacks since it announced a 20-day ceasefire on April 2. Since the earthquake on March 28, 280 total attacks have killed 230 and injured 437.

Four regime ministries to relocate to Yangon; Muslims ask Naypyidaw to allow mosque renovations in Mandalay

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Regime Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Than Swe met World Food Programme Resident Representative Michael Dunford at a makeshift office in the Foreign Affairs Ministry compound in Naypyidaw on April 10. (Credit: Regime media)

Four regime ministries to relocate to Yangon 

The regime plans to relocate the Ministries of Defence, Foreign Affairs, Education, and Commerce from Naypyidaw to Yangon this month after their offices were either destroyed or damaged during the March 28 earthquake, sources told DVB. Over 800 ministry buildings have reportedly sustained damage, but the regime has not disclosed any further details.

“It’s certain our ministry has to move. We’ve held meetings outdoors six times,” a Ministry of Education staff member told DVB on the condition of anonymity. The Ministry of Defence is reportedly set to relocate to Mayangone Township, while the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Education, and Commerce will move to Yangon’s Western District, which includes Kyauktada, Pabedan, and Latha townships.

Naypyidaw is located 169 miles (272 km) south of the earthquake’s epicenter in Sagaing Region, and 229 miles (368 km) north of Yangon, the country’s largest city. DVB data states the death toll from the quake is 4,410. This includes 617 in Naypyidaw, 20 of whom were regime employees. The regime updated its figures to 3,735 bodies recovered, 5,108 injured, and 120 still missing. 

Muslims ask Naypyidaw to allow mosque renovations

Members of the Muslim community in Mandalay Region told DVB that they are seeking permission from the regime in Naypyidaw to rebuild mosques that were either damaged or destroyed during the earthquake. The disaster affected 9,642 religious buildings, including 135 mosques in central Burma, according to the regime. 

“We have donors. We just need permission from the [regime] to restore the mosques,” a Muslim resident of Mandalay told DVB on condition of anonymity. Regime leader Min Aung Hlaing told Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on March 31 that around 500 Muslims were killed while attending Friday prayers when mosques collapsed during the earthquake.

Thein Win Aung, a Muslim cleric in Mandalay Region, told DVB that he would like existing mosques to accommodate the increasing population. The Muslim community claims that over the last 60 years no permission has been granted to reconstruct or build new mosques. Most in Mandalay and other hard hit regions have been closed since March 28 due to the fear of aftershocks.

Khin Ohmar joined us in the DVB Newsroom to discuss the response to the March 28 earthquake on April 10. (Credit: DVB)

Khin Ohmar on why the military ‘weaponizes’ earthquake aid

Human rights and civil society leader Khin Ohmar joined the DVB Newsroom to discuss how and why the military is blocking, obstructing, and “weaponizing” earthquake relief from reaching those in need. Our request for an interview with a representative from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) went unanswered. 

“We’re seeing that international rescue missions from different countries, with good faith and goodwill, that want to come and really save the people’s lives are not able to have the full access to the areas where they could still save lives. I think it’s a very intentional move by this military junta [to] block [and] obstruct international aid,” Khin Ohmar told DVB.

Watch the DVB Newsroom podcast season 2 episode 13 interview with Khin Ohmar on why the military ‘weaponizes’ earthquake aid on DVB English News YouTube or Spotify. Or, if you’d prefer to listen to it as audio, find and follow us on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or wherever you get podcasts.

News by Region

MANDALAY—Twenty political prisoners, and at least 10 others, were killed and more than 280 were injured during the collapse of buildings and walls at Obo Prison during the March 28 earthquake, according to seven prisoner advocacy organizations on Sunday.

“Political prisoners inside Obo Prison who were [injured] by the quake have not received any humanitarian aid from local or international organizations,” said a joint statement, which includes the Political Prisoners Network Myanmar (PPNM) and the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). 

Prisoners at Obo have been forced to remain in their cells and have been deprived of adequate medical care since March 28, the statement added. The AAPP has documented 22,197 still being held in prisons nationwide since the 2021 coup. 

MON—Three civilians, including a Buddhist novice, were killed and nine others were injured by an airstrike on a monastery in Bilin Township on Friday, the Karen National Union (KNU) told DVB. Bilin is located 69 miles (111 km) northwest of the state capital Mawlamyine. 

“A novice and two women, who delivered food to the monastery, were killed,” a source close to the KNU told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Two buildings inside the monastery compound in Minsaw village. located in the KNU Thaton district, were destroyed.

AYEYARWADY—Yekyi Township residents told DVB that regime troops from Yenantha checkpoint gate, along the Pathein-Monywa road, in Ngathaingchaung town have restricted residents from carrying more than two baskets of rice home each week since April 7. Yekyi is located 53 miles (85 km) north of the region’s capital Pathein. 

A resident of Konepyin village, which is located near Arakan State, told DVB on the condition of anonymity that soldiers are confiscating baskets of rice from residents if this rule is not followed. Sources close to the military told DVB that this is to ensure that food isn’t reaching resistance forces. 

(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,410 MMK) 

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