FROM THE DVB NEWSROOM

Regime declares its intention to implement Russian payment system in Burma. Junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun claimed on Tuesday that the regime is holding discussions with Russia regarding the use of Mir payment cards in Burma, Reuters reports. The implementation of a Mirs payment system in Burma would allow direct exchanges between the Burmese kyat and Russian ruble. The regime’s adoption of the payment system was discussed during Min Aung Hlaing’s recent visit to Russia. The move would likely be an effort by the regime to decrease its dependency on the US dollar in the face of economic mismanagement and sanctions. Despite Russia’s desire to expand Mir payment systems in “friendly countries,” the cards are only accepted in a limited number of countries including Cuba, South Korea, Vietnam, and Turkey. Ties between Russia and the military council have grown increasingly warm since last year’s military coup as Russia and the junta have grown increasingly isolated internationally.

Aung San Suu Kyi pleads not guilty to corruption charges. Burma’s deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi has pleaded not guilty to her remaining corruption cases in a court hearing in Naypyidaw on Tuesday, according to a source close to the court. The trial regarding the corruption cases – related to taking alleged bribes from a construction magnate and improper purchase of a helicopter – continued at the special court in Naypyidaw Prison on Sep. 20. She is said to be in good health, according to the source. She has been convicted of 11 charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison, while another eight charges are still pending.

The Arakan Army claims discussions with allied armed groups were fruitful. The Arakan Army (AA) said that a meeting with seven allied EAOs led by the United Wa State Army (UWSA) yielded “good results,” Development Media Group reported. The AA’s Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Nyo Twan Awng made the remarks at an online press conference on Monday. Nyo Twan Awng added that members of the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC) had not met in a while. The FPNCC consists of seven members – the UWSA, National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), Shan State Progressive Party (SSPP), Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the AA – and met at Panghsang, headquarters of the UWSA on Sept. 16. Detailed information about the discussions have not yet been disclosed.

News by Region

RAKHINE—The AA’s spokesperson Khine Thu Kha said at a press conference on Sep. 19 that the AA had a military advantage over the Burma Army in recent fighting. Intense clashes between the AA and Burma Army have been increasingly occurring in the country’s western state. On Sept. 19, the AA captured two motor boats carrying Burma Army personnel and weapons in Maungdaw, according to locals. “There were only four soldiers on each motorboat and were fully loaded with weapons. They [Burma Army] were using civilian boats. They were replenishing their weapons using waterways,” a resident told DVB. The Arakan People’s Authority, the name of the AA’s parallel administrative and judicial apparatus, has warned locals to dig bomb shelters in some villages as more intense fighting is expected.

SHAN—Kyaukme Township boys are fleeing forced recruitment by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), The Shan Herald Agency for News reported. Residents told SHAN that a 14-year-old student was detained by TNLA troops near Kyaukme town. “The TLNA arrested him saying he was on its recruitment list,” a Kyaukme resident said. The boy’s parents have requested the TNLA to release him. “I can’t comment on the details yet. Further investigation is needed,” a TNLA official told SHAN. 

FROM THE DVB NEWSROOM

UNICEF offers vapid condemnation of a regime attack on Sagaing school that killed nearly a dozen children. UNICEF Myanmar expressed its “condolences to the parents and families of children” killed in a junta airstrike but refused to attribute responsibility to the regime in a statement posted on social media. “On 16 September, at least 11 children died in an air strike and indiscriminate fire in civilian areas, including a school in Tabayin Township, Sagaing Region,” the statement said. However, the post made no reference to the Burma Army. UNICEF’s statement also claimed that 15 students from the school are still missing and that details of the incident are still being verified. The Burma Army launched a helicopter attack on a monastic school in a village in Tabayin Township in Sagaing on Sep. 16 that killed 11 children and left many more injured. Junta media accused resistance forces of occupying the school. The UN organization earlier came under fire from activists after the junta released pictures on state media of the Representative of UNICEF Myanmar Marcolugi Corsi presenting his credentials to the regime’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin last June. 

Burma Army arrests dozens of Rohingya in Pathein. Security forces arrested 31 Rohingya and five smugglers near a beach in Pathein Township, Ayeyarwady Region, according to Radio Free Asia. A local said that junta troops arrested 19 Rohingya men and 12 women and that children were among the detained. They also claimed that the Rohingya came from Rakhine State and might have fled renewed fighting between the Burma Army and the Arakan Army (AA) in Maungdaw in northern Rakhine. The arrests come as security forces have made similar arrests of Rohingya in the last three months. Many Rohingya that flee by boat intend to make their way to Malaysia and other countries in the region. Nearly 800 Rohingya have been arrested by junta forces since December of last year, according to data collected by Radio Free Asia. 

News by Region

MANDALAY—Five family members, including two 13-year-old children, were murdered at a chicken farm in Pyin Oo Lwin Township’s Sikar village on Sept. 18. The victims were found dead with the wounds on their necks. “I have never heard of such an event in Pyin Oo Lwin before. I learned that they [the killers] didn’t take anything,” said a source close to the police. The motivation behind the killings is currently unknown.

SAGAING —Seven policemen were killed in a raid by an unidentified armed group on a police outpost in Masein village, Kalewa Township on Sep. 18, according to locals. “The outpost was burnt down and everything was reduced to ash,” a local told DVB. Win Maung, a member of a Burma Army-backed militia was also killed and his wife was seriously injured in an attack in Kalewa Township in Sagaing on the same day.

KARENNI—One civilian was killed and two others injured in the Burma Army’s heavy shelling against Karenni resistance groups in Loikaw Township on Sept. 17. During the fighting, the hall of a village church and civilian houses were also damaged, according to locals. Battalion 2 of the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) stated that one of its members and three Burma Army personnel were killed in the fighting.

KACHIN—An ethnic Lisu man from Myitkyina Township’s Alam Village was shot dead by the Burma Army on Sept. 18. His body was not returned to his family and was cremated shortly after his death. The incident took place while the Burma Army was conducting a search operation in and around Alam village for two of its soldiers who had disappeared.  According to residents, the victim was shot dead near his home on his way to the river. The reason behind the murder of the 30-year-old man, who is a father of two children, is currently unknown. Villagers expressed alarm that the village would be burnt down as the Burma army threatened to do so if the two missing soldiers were not found. “They also shot at the village with guns and issued an order that no one was allowed to leave the village,” a local told DVB. Informant Elimination Team, a local defense force based in Myitkyina, claimed responsibility for the killings of the two missing captains on social media.

RAKHINE—The United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA) spokesperson Khine Thu Kha said the ULA/AA will accept Rohingya refugees back from Bangladesh when it can establish a relationship with the international community “as a government.” He made the remarks at a ULA/AA press conference held on Sep. 19. His statement was in response to a reporter’s question about the repatriation of Rohingya. “The international community and the Bangladesh government need to recognize the ULA/AA as a government to address this issue. The Bangladesh government and powerful states in the world, including the UN, need to give full support and stand with the ULA. When this reality is achieved, the ULA/AA’s refugee repatriation policy will be officially announced and resolved in the form of a mutually acceptable solution based on justice and peace for long-term coexistence,” Khine Thu Kha said. Nearly one million Rohingya refugees have been unable to return to their homes in Burma due to successive ethnic cleansing campaigns conducted by the Burma Army. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to Bangladesh following a genocidal campaign conducted by the Burma Army in 2017.  

At the same press conference, Khine Thu Kha also claimed that nearly 100 Burma Army personnel have defected to the AA since the military coup. The spokesperson added that the defectors were being “well taken care of” by the AA and he called on more Burma Army personnel to defect.

FROM THE DVB NEWSROOm

Rohingya refugees killed and injured in Bangladesh from shelling on the Burma side. A young Rohingya man was killed and at least six others were injured after a mortar shell fired from Burma exploded inside Bangladesh on Sept.16. The military council accused the Arakan Army (AA) and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) of firing shells into Bangladesh. On Sept. 18, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the junta’s ambassador to Bangladesh for the fourth time regarding the repeated landing of the shells in Bangladesh territory.

News by Region

AYEYARWADY–The health of lawyer Ayeyar Lin Tun is deteriorating in prison, according to sources. She was sentenced to two years in prison for violating Sec.505(a) of the penal code. “She mostly works for political cases, especially those of the wrongly accused. It seems that the military council resented her for her work,” a lawyer said. She has not yet received medical treatment in prison.

RAKHINE–Former member of parliament, U Pe Than, has been charged with Sec. 505(a) and Sec. 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law. These charges stem from an interview he did with a local media outlet in Rakhine State, he confirmed to DVB. U Pe Than was elected in 2010 and reelected in 2015 but resigned from his party in 2021. “I can’t die as a politician who does not dare to speak out about what is happening in my own country,” he said.

SHAN—Five members of the Pa-Oh National Liberation Organization (PNLO) were killed by the Pa-O National Organisation (PNO), a junta-backed militia in Pinlaung Township on Sept. 14, according to 

Kanbawza Tai News. The PNLO claimed the five were killed for “no reason” and strongly condemned the killings, according to a statement made on Sept. 15. It added that it would try to solve the matter in a “peaceful way.” The PNLO is led by Col. Khun Okkar andis a signatory of the 2015 Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement and is currently participating in junta-led peace talks.  

SAGAING–At least four children were killed and 20 were injured in a junta air raid on Latyat Kone village monastery, in Depayin Township on Sept. 16. “I think it’s inhumane. My child was also injured and they took my son. My son is not yet 15 years old,” a father said after Burma Army troops took the wounded for medical treatment. State media said forces had conducted a raid in Latyat Kone village due to reports that KIA and PDF forces were hiding in the monastery. “In total, 10 dead bodies have been found. Many men have died and one woman was killed,” a PDF member told DVB. The National Unity Government (NUG) called for the immediate release of all “arrested teachers and children.”

Yinmarbin Township held a rally on Sept. 18 to call on the UN to keep Kyaw Moe Tun as Burma’s permanent representative. Protesters held banners reading: “Accept NUG and Our Ambassador, Reject Dictator” and “UN, Prove your existence for justice.” Similar protests have also happened in other townships in the region. International support rallies occured in Canada and the US. Last week, at least 15 protesters and two journalists were arrested for a similar rally in Yangon’s Kyimyindaing Township. 

YANGON–A 100 household administrator was killed on Yadana road, 13 ward in Hlaing Township on Sept. 17, according to locals. An unidentified gunman opened fire in front of the administrator’s home, a resident told DVB. He was pronounced dead at Yangon General Hospital. Police set up checkpoints in the area. Five have been killed and six have been wounded in Yangon this month.