Regime administrators in Yangon injured by grenade attack
Two members of the regime’s administration in Yangon’s Zayatkwin ward were severely injured during a grenade attack on an administration office on Tuesday, Hlegu Township residents told DVB. A group calling itself the Yangon Army claimed responsibility for the attack. It said that its members threw two grenades at the Zayatkwin ward administration office.
“Administrators from that office have threatened residents who don’t attend election campaigns. They are kidnapping young men and asking for money. That’s why we did this,” a group spokesperson told DVB. He added that it will carry out more attacks against military targets and those supporting the regime’s 2025-26 elections set to begin on Dec. 28 and continue into January 2026.
A member of the People’s Pioneer Party (PPP) told DVB that its election campaign billboards, as well as those for the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and People’s Party, were damaged in Alone, Thingangyun, Thanlyin and Hlaingthaya Townships. The Union Election Commission (UEC) stated that all political party campaigns began on Oct. 28.
Philippines to continue with Malaysia policy on Myanmar
The Philippines will maintain the current approach that Malaysia has taken to the Burma crisis, since the 2021 military coup, when it assumes the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Jan. 1, 2026, according to its Department of Foreign Affairs.
“Malaysia had about 117 engagements, and we are of the view that we cannot do everything that was done by Malaysia, or even the past chairs, starting from that,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro told the media in Manila on Nov. 17. “It is the Philippine position, that we can just be working on what has been established, and to continue.”
Lazaro, who was appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as the incoming ASEAN Special Envoy to Myanmar, added that a decision on whether it will officially send observers to the regime’s 2025-26 elections is still under discussion. Any deployment of election observers would need a consensus decision from all ASEAN members. Read more
Myanmar refugees join workforce in Thailand
Tun Min Lat climbs a bamboo ladder in the longan orchards of eastern Thailand, moving from tree to tree as he plucks the juicy tropical fruit in the sweltering heat of a November morning. For the first time in the nearly two decades he has lived in Thailand, the 42-year-old Myanmar refugee is able to work legally.
“Now I feel like I can see a future,” he told Reuters. In late August, Thailand’s government announced that thousands of Myanmar refugees who live along the Thai-Myanmar border would be given employment rights for the first time. The decision, which the U.N. described as a “landmark step”, allows more than 80,000 Myanmar refugees to apply for work permits.
The announcement came after border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia in July prompted Cambodian workers to rush home, leaving factories, construction sites and farms in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy short of labour. About 520,000 Cambodians – about 12 percent of the total workforce – worked in Thailand before the fighting erupted, according to Thai labour ministry data. Read more
News by Region
ARAKAN—Residents of Kyaukphyu Township told DVB that three civilians were killed and five others were injured by airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on Monday. Kyaukphyu is contested between the Arakan Army (AA) and the regime. Kyaukphyu is located 317 miles (510 km) south of the state capital Sittwe.
A Kyaukphyu resident told DVB that at least six airstrikes hit five villages on Nov. 17. At least 1,527 people have been killed and 3,462 have been injured by airstrikes since March 28, according to DVB data. The AA has seized control of 14 out of Arakan’s 17 total townships since it launched an offensive on Nov. 13, 2023.
CHINLAND—Sources in Falam Township told DVB that the Chin Brotherhood attacked a 500-strong regime column at the Var Bridge, 10 miles (16 km) north of Falam, and killed an unknown number of regime troops on Monday. Falam is located 117 miles (188 km) north of the state capital Hakha.
A source close to the Chin Brotherhood told DVB that the Burma Air Force carried out airstrikes after the regime column was attacked. Regime forces took control of Taingen village, 50 miles (80 km) north of Falam, on Nov. 9. Falam was seized by Chin resistance forces on April 7.
KAREN—The Karen National Union (KNU) told DVB that its former chairperson Saw Mutu Say Poe and former Brigade 6 chairperson Saw Shwe Maung were “terminated” on Tuesday. The two men attended several events held by the regime in Naypyidaw, including the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) 10th anniversary on Oct. 15.
“We warned them not to attend those events but they did,” said Padoh Saw Thamein Tun, a KNU central executive committee member. The KNU declared in August 2023 that the NCA was null and void by the 2021 military coup. It has also stated that it rejects the regime’s 2025-26 elections.
SHAN—Truck drivers told DVB that regime forces seized over 50 vehicles for transporting “Chinese goods” on the 102 mile (164 km) long road connecting Namlan and Lawksawk towns on Monday. Lawksawk is located 46 miles (74 km) north of the state capital Taunggyi.
A cargo truck driver told DVB that there has been intense scrutiny of vehicles by regime troops since Nov. 13. Residents in Hsipaw Township told DVB that the military has blocked the 45 mile (72 km) long road to Lashio Township since Nov. 14 to stop “illegal trading.” The regime regained control of Hsipaw on Oct. 17 and Lashio on April 22.
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