Over 135,000 males conscripted into military, NUG reports
The National Unity Government (NUG) announced on Friday that it has documented 135,080 males in Burma who have been drafted into military service over the last 27 intakes since the regime in Naypyidaw enforced its conscription law on Feb. 10, 2024. “The forced recruitment of young people to extend the military dictatorship has become a major means of sustaining the regime,” the NUG stated on Sept. 18.
Known officially as “People’s Military Service Law,” the regime’s conscription drive requires both males aged 18-35 and females aged 18-27 to serve up to two years in the military. The NUG added that “mostly conscripts” were among the 20,383 regime troops killed and 9,792 wounded between July 2024 and August 2026. But no exact number of conscripts killed in battle was disclosed.
It added that 3,874 soldiers had defected and around 20,000 had deserted from the military. To date, the regime continues to deny it is recruiting females under the conscription law. Confidential military sources reported that a second intake of female conscripts was receiving military training at a facility in Hmawbi Township, Yangon Region, on Aug. 10.
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Min Aung Hlaing joins Union Solidarity and Development Party
The military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) Spokesperson Hla Thein told pro-regime media in the capital Naypyidaw on Sunday that regime leader Min Aung Hlaing is now an official member of the USDP following its fourth party congress on Sept. 19-20.
The official USDP title or role for Min Aung Hlaing was not disclosed. Hla Thein dismissed rumours about tension between the regime leader and USDP Chairperson Khin Yi. Min Aung Hlaing was rumored to have recently attempted to replace Khin Yi as USDP chair.
The USDP elected 46 central executive committee members and Khin Yi was re-elected to his post during the two-day convention. Pro-regime media was barred from covering the fourth party congress—the first since 2011 where the USDP chair has remained unchanged.
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‘Fruit Gathering’ at Bangkok International Film Festival
The Burmese-language feature film Fruit Gathering (Thit-thee Khu), directed by Aung Phyoe, will be showcased at the Bangkok International Film Festival from Sept. 24-26. Running as part of the festival’s broader Sept. 13–27 lineup, this marks a major regional showcase for the film following its premier international acclaim earlier this year.
“Thit-thee Khu is about two young women who become close while working at a garment factory in present-day Yangon. Broadly speaking, it tells the story of how they grow closer as they navigate the realities of life, their dreams and hopes, before gradually drifting apart,” Aung Phyoe stated on Sept. 19 ahead of the Thailand screening.
Set in the industrial outskirts of modern Yangon, his 97-minute romantic film uses an observational, mid-tempo style to follow two young female garment workers—San Kyi (Nandar Myat Aung) and Theint Theint Oo (Nandar Myint Lwin)—as they navigate grueling labor conditions, societal expectations, and an evolving intimacy.
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News by Region
AYEYARWADY—One civilian was killed and another was injured during airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on Lemyethna Township’s Daungyi Village on Monday. Lemyethna is located 75 miles (120 km) north of the region’s capital Pathein. Residents told DVB that the village was “temporarily” seized by the Arakan Army (AA).
They added that AA has seized at least four other villages in Lemyethna during fighting with regime forces, which began when the AA expanded its offensive into the region in early 2025. On Aug. 3, four civilians were injured by airstrikes as over 14,000 Lemyethna residents were reeling from rising floodwaters after days of relentless rainfall.
ARAKAN—At least two civilians were killed and three others were injured by airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force in Ponnagyun, Pauktaw, Gwa and Minbya townships on Monday. The four towns, located 20-400 miles (32-643 km) northeast and south of the state capital Sittwe, were seized by the AA in 2024.
A resident in Ponnagyun’s Kalachaung village was killed by airstrikes on Sept. 21, after most had fled their homes on Sept. 4 after the military launched “Operation 4926” against the AA. One resident was killed and another was injured by airstrikes in Pauktaw’s Taungphu village on Sept. 21, residents told DVB. Read the full article on our website
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