Pro-regime forces recapture Sagaing Region’s Banmauk
Sources close to the People’s Defence Force (PDF) told DVB that resistance forces, including the the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), lost control of Banmauk town in Sagaing Region to pro-regime forces, which includes the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA), on Sunday. Banmauk is located 235 miles (378 km) north of the region’s capital Monywa.
A PDF source told DVB that the regime counteroffensive against resistance forces was assisted by artillery fire from the Burma Army and air support from the Burma Air Force, which “overwhelmed” resistance forces with airstrikes in Banmauk. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), or drone strikes, were also carried out by regime forces. The PDF, the KIA, and the ABSDF seized Banmauk on Sept. 20.
The pro-regime counteroffensive, including the SNA, was launched in response last September. A Banmauk resident told DVB that an unknown number of civilians were displaced from their homes five months ago and still cannot return home. Banmauk is located 50 miles (80 km) west of Sagaing’s Mawlu town and 125 miles (201 km) east of Pinlebu town, which were seized by the PDF in 2023-24.
APHR welcomes Timor-Leste universal jurisdiction case
ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) on Friday welcomed Timor-Leste’s decision to initiate legal proceedings under the principle of universal jurisdiction against Burma’s military over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Its Feb. 6 statement claimed that the move sends a “powerful message” to the regime in Naypyidaw and the international community.
The Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP) and the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) announced on Feb. 2 that Timor-Leste’s judiciary opened legal proceedings against the military, including Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. This is the first time a member of the Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN), has initiated such action against a fellow member state.
The APHR statement added that the Burmese people’s historic struggle for democracy “isn’t very far” from the Timorese fight for independence from Indonesia’s “violent” 24-year occupation that ended in 2002. It called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to hold the regime in Naypyidaw accountable and support the people of Burma in their fight against a return to military rule.
Military appoints remaining 56 soldiers to legislature
The military’s Union Election Commission (UEC) released its list of the remaining 56 soldiers, including 28 women, who were appointed to the Amyotha Hluttaw, or upper house of parliament, on Sunday. Under the 2008 Constitution, the military is allotted 25 per cent, or 166, of all seats in both levels of parliament. The UEC released its list of the other 110 of 166 soldiers appointed to the legislature on Saturday.
The military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won 108 seats in the Amyotha Hluttaw and 231 seats in the Pyithu Hluttaw, or lower house of parliament, during the military’s 2025-26 elections, which began on Dec. 28 and ended on Jan. 25. Polls were held in three phases in 263 of Burma’s 330 townships.
Any political party that controls 294 of 586 seats in the legislature can appoint the president, according to the constitution. The combined total of USDP seats and appointed military lawmakers is 505, which far surpasses the required 294. Htin Kyaw Aye, an independent election analyst, said that Senior General Min Aung Hlaing wants to be president and that the election outcome was predetermined by him.
News by Region
NAYPYIDAW—On Feb. 3, the UEC announced that 16 of 20 total seats won by the National Unity Party (NUP), and one of eight total seats won by the Shan and Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), were handed to the parties through the new propositional representation (PR) electoral system following the end of vote counting in the military elections.
The People’s Party won five seats and the People’s Pioneer Party (PPP) secured one seat in the Amyotha Hluttaw, via PR. Htin Kyaw Aye told DVB that the UEC used a combination of First Past The Post (FPTP) and PR to fill all 12 Amyotha Hluttaw seats from each state, as it was unable to hold the elections in 67 townships.
SHAN—Residents in Hsenwi Township told DVB that at least nine businesses are offering illegal sexual services for men inside karaoke bars, massage parlors, and hotels run by Chinese businesspeople. Hsenwi is located along the Hsenwi-Lashio road 31 miles (49 km) north of the regional capital Lashio.
A resident told DVB that there were no businesses offering illegal sexual services in Hsenwi before it was seized by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in January 2024. Residents told DVB that most businesses belong to businesspeople from China with some owned by MNDAA officials.
A source in the military told DVB on the condition of anonymity that high-ranking officials “discussed” driving out MNDAA troops from the outskirts of Lashio Township during a meeting at the Northeastern Regional Military Command (RMC) on Saturday. Lashio is located 243 miles (391 km) north of the state capital Taunggyi.
The source added that the expulsion may begin in March, following the conclusion of matriculation exams in Burma. The MNDAA handed over control of Lashio to regime forces on April 22, as part of a China-brokered ceasefire agreement on Jan. 18, 2025. Its forces remained in the outskirts of Lashio.
YANGON—The Yangon-Dala bridge was opened on Friday. The 1.8 km long cable-stayed bridge connects the city to Dala, Twantay, Kawhmu, and Kungyangon, across the Yangon River, as well as to neighbouring Ayeyarwady Region. It is known as the Myanmar-Korea Friendship Bridge, since financing was provided by South Korea.
Residents told DVB on the condition of anonymity that Min Aung Hlaing visited the bridge on Feb. 5. The bridge has four lanes of traffic and a height of 160 feet with a width of 990 feet, allowing international sea-going vessels weighing up to 15,000 tons, as well as large domestic ships, to pass beneath it.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 3,910 MMK)
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