FROM THE DVB NEWSROOM

Three residents of Yangon’s Mingaladon Township facing eviction from their homes and land in Pyinmabin village tract have committed suicide, according to locals. More than 50,000 people have been made homeless due to the evictions carried out by the Ministry of Defense, which claims that it owns the land. It ordered all residents to vacate the area by Nov. 25.

“The majority of the residents in this area lived there for 10 years and some of them have built nice houses and other buildings. One resident took his life by hanging himself on a tree near his house on the same night he received an eviction notice letter,” a resident of Myal Myan Aung ward told DVB.  “Although they forced us to leave our homes and told us to destroy our houses, they didn’t arrange to relocate us. We are now homeless and it is difficult to move elsewhere as administrators will not put us on guest lists,” a resident of San Thamadhi ward said. 

Retired Burma Army official assassinated in Yangon

A high ranking retired Burma Army official was killed at his home in Thingangyun Township on Nov. 24. An undefined gunman is reported to have shot Colonel Zaw Naing Win while he was watering plants. “I heard the sound of gunfire. Police and military vehicles entered and [the retired officer] was carried away by an ambulance,” a resident told DVB. “He was shot in the  chest. He is in grave condition. Now he has been sent to the No. 2 military hospital in Mingaladon,” a source close to the junta’s administration said. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.  On Sept. 24, another retired high ranking Burma Army officer, Ohn Thwin, 72, was assassinated along with his son-in-law in Yangon’s Hlaing township.

Political prisoners receive additional prison sentences 

Eleven political prisoners, including National League for Democracy MPs and activists, were sentenced to additional 20 years respectively by a special court inside Pathein prison. The 11 have already been sentenced to two to three years on various counts. They have been detained since the coup and charged with treason and other related counts. “It is wrong that they were charged with treason just because they only expressed their desire [in anti-coup protests],” a local political activist said. “The judiciary of this country has reached its lowest point,” he added. Kyaw Hla Moe is among those sentenced. He is the husband of Lonema Nyein Chan who committed suicide in April. She is thought to have taken her own life due to depression she suffered after her husband’s imprisonment since the early days of the coup. More than 300 male and 70 female political activists have been held in Pathein prison since the military coup.

News by Region

KACHIN—One was killed and two were injured in an explosion at a General Administration Office in Karmai Township on Nov. 24. “A 60 mm shell fired from nowhere dropped into the office. I don’t know which group did this,” a source said. The ceiling and other parts of the building sustained damage and one of the injured is in critical condition. Security forces set up check-points following the explosion.

KARENNI—Demoso residents displaced by the conflict need medical supplies following a flu outbreak. “The infections have been occurring since the end of September,” a local health worker told DVB. There are insufficient medical supplies in the township due to the increasing number of patients. “The main difficulty regarding health is medicine. We are experiencing a lot of difficulties because of the restrictions on the transportation of medicine,” a volunteer said. Around 200,000 people have fled Karenni State since the coup, and 93 people have died, according to the Progressive Karenni People Force (PKPF). Most of the deaths are due to a lack of medical treatment and supplies, the PKPF said.

MON—Three Ye police officers were reportedly killed on Nov. 23. “They were attacked with both small and heavy weapons. The car was also set on fire. An M16 rifle and other weapons were taken [by resistance fighters],” a source told DVB. The resistance group Ye Balu (Ye Ogre) released footage of the attack. “We pledge to the public that we will continue to carry out more missions which are more ambitious than this [attack] in Mon State,” a Ye Balu spokesperson said. “They didn’t even have time to shoot back. We conducted the attack amid tight security,” another member told DVB. Ye Balu alleges it has conducted attacks against more than two dozen soldiers, police officers, and informants.

SAGAING —A 70-year-old woman was killed at her home by an artillery shell in a village located in Kalay Township on Nov. 22. It has been reported that an elderly woman died in a similar attack in Saegyi village on Nov. 21.

Burma Army troops guarding the junta-owned Myanma Economic Bank (MEB) in Myinmu town were attacked with grenades on Nov. 22, allegedly killing five. Three resistance groups jointly claimed responsibility for the attack. “We threw bombs at the site where seven troops were deployed,” a member of one of the resistance groups told DVB. The resistance groups did not report any casualties. DVB could not independently verify the resistance groups’ claims of Burma Army casualties.

YANGON—A 38-year-old man was killed in an explosion at a restaurant in Sanchaung Township on Nov. 23. “At first I thought it was a gas explosion. Then, I learned that it was a bomb blast, and a man lost both his legs and was injured in the abdomen. An ambulance came to take him to the hospital, but he was already dead,” a resident told DVB. The victim was reported to be the nephew of the owner of the restaurant. The motive behind the attack is not yet known and no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

FROM THE DVB NEWSROOM

Australian bank to withdraw from Burma

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) announced that it will withdraw from Burma by early 2023. “The decision follows careful consideration of the local operating conditions,” said Simon Ireland, ANZ’s international managing director. The bank employed around two dozen staff in Burma. The withdrawal comes after leaked documents revealed that ANZ acted as an intermediary for international banks to make deposits with the junta-linked Innwa Bank. Whistleblower group Justice for Myanmar (JFM) welcomed the Australian bank’s decision to withdraw from the country. “ANZ is the first international bank to leave Myanmar and their planned exit is another sign of the destruction the junta is causing to Myanmar’s economy through their coup attempt, war of terror and proliferation of illicit business activities under control of, or profiting the military, and its associates,” said Yadanar Maung, JFM spokesperson. JFM called on the Australian government to impose immediate sanctions on Burma. 

Australian economist Sean Turnell shared his harrowing story about spending 21 months behind bars in post-coup Burma. Turnell was forced to stay in filthy jail cells, caught COVID-19 five times, and heard the cries of political prisoners being tortured by their jailers. He told The Australian newspaper: “For 650 days, I ate out of a bucket and in Naypyidaw it wasn’t even a new bucket. They were paint buckets.” Turnell worked in Burma as the economic advisor to Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy government. He said that Suu Kyi, who has been held incommunicado since the 2021 coup, was in “fantastic form” and that she had a plan to end the violent persecution of the Rohingya community in Burma. Turnell is calling for Australia to sanction the junta and its bankers. He was released in an amnesty of nearly 6,000 prisoners on Nov. 17. 

The National Unity Government’s (NUG) representative in South Korea met with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. The NUG announced on Nov. 21 that its representative discussed human rights in Burma with UN Special Rapporteur Thomas Andrews. The parallel government said the Special Rapporteur visited South Korea to discuss Burma’s crisis and also met with the Burmese community in the country. During his five-day trip, the Special Rapporteur requested South Korea play an “enhanced leadership role in Burma” by denouncing the coup, imposing an arms embargo, and issuing a moratorium on forced returns of Burma nationals. 

News by Region

KAREN—The military council launched airstrikes on two mining sites in the territory of the Karen National Union’s (KNU) Brigade 6, Myawaddy Township on Nov. 21, according to the KNU’s Dooplaya District. There were no reports of casualties, but parts of the mining fields sustained damage. Another mining site under the control of the KNU in Payathonzu Township was also attacked by the Burma Air Force in a similar attack, killing three Chinese nationals and seriously injuring eight others.

MANDALAY—Four members of Generation Z Power were killed during a shootout with the Burma Army in Mandalay on Nov. 21.  “We know that they were  being chased [by Burma Army troops] while returning from Pathein Gyi on their motorcycles. It’s not so unusal anymore because they usually kill any urban guerrillas they catch,” an official from the resistance group Mandalay People Rescue (MPR) told DVB. In Mandalay, more than 100 resistance members are said to have been arrested in the past four months.

MON—Two locals were killed and 10 injured by the Burma Army in an airstrike and shelling after it lost its outpost in Mon’s Kyaikmaraw Township on Nov. 21, according to residents. The Taungkalay village police outpost was burned down by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), killing eight Burma Army and police personnel inside, sources told DVB. The retaliatory attack by the Burma Army forced around 2,000 people to flee their homes and abandon their vehicles along the road.

SAGAING—A 64-year-old woman was killed when an artillery shell fired by the Burma Army landed on her house in Kalay Township on Nov. 21. The victim is said to have been killed while lying in bed. The Burma Army has been shelling villages in Kalay Township for the last four days despite the lack of engagement by resistance forces, according to locals.

RAKHINE—The death toll from the Nov. 16 massacre of families at a child’s naming ceremony in Maungdaw Township has increased to 13. A child died on the night of Nov. 21 while receiving treatment for injuries at Maungdaw Hospital. “She is just 6 months old. The injuries are on two places of her back and leg. She died because of a serious back injury,” the child’s relative told DVB. A 16-year-old student died on Nov. 18 while being treated at Sittwe Hospital. “Twenty of the injured are being treated at Maungdaw Hospital, and another 6-year-old child is still being treated at Sittwe Hospital,” a local said. Three artillery shells killed 11 people on Nov. 16. Many more have been seriously injured. The village where the attack occurred is home to the Mro people.

The Mro National Party (MNP) issued a statement on Nov. 21 calling on the Arakan Army (AA) and Burma Army to protect civilians. It was in response to a massacre in Maungdaw Township, killing at least 13 people, including children. “The group responsible for the killings knows who they are, and they will suffer karmic retribution according to Buddhism,” the MNP stated. The MNP appealed to both sides to refrain from fighting near schools, hospitals, and villages in the future. 

YANGON—A Burma Air Force base was attacked with explosives in Mingaladon Township on Nov. 21. No serious injuries were reported. “As far as I know, no one was hurt, but the gate was damaged,” a person close to the Burma Army told DVB. Antoher bomb blast was also reported in Hlaing Thayar Township on the same night. “It was so loud. I am not sure if anyone was hit. There is a security gate [where  the attack occurred],” a local said. Similar attacks were reported at a fire department used by the Burma Army in South Okkalapa Township.

A Twantay Township electricity office was attacked on Nov. 20. The Union of Myanmar Civil Defence (UMCD) resistance group claimed responsibility due to its claims that “the office has unfairly collected money from locals and [is responsible for] the power cuts.” A UMCD spokesperson told DVB: “We detonated two hand-made explosives while those in charge of the office were there, but one failed to detonate due to an error.” No injuries have been reported. The UMCD conducted a similar attack in Hmawbi Township on Oct. 25.

DVB Picks—Meet Thuta Khin. She runs a socially responsible business in London with a friend. DPDM Global features her in its most recent episode about the Burmese diaspora community in the U.K. DVB Picks recommends the best on Burma, in English, every week. Stay tuned.