Regime forces retake Moebye in southern Shan State

Sources on the frontline in southern Shan State told DVB that pro-regime forces, including the Pa-O National Organization (PNO), took control of Moebye town, Pekon Township, on Wednesday. Moebye is located 100 miles (160 km) south of the state capital Taunggyi and 11 miles (17 km) north of the Karenni State capital Loikaw. 

“We lost Moebye [to regime forces],” a source told DVB on the condition of anonymity, adding that the regime’s counteroffensive, launched in November, used “overwhelming force” against the resistance, which has held Moebye and six other towns in Karenni since it seized them during “Operation 1111” beginning on Nov. 11, 2023. 

The Shan South National Defence Force/Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (SSNDF/KNDF) announced on July 2 that two of its members were killed by regime forces June 29-30. “They launched a counteroffensive against our positions on June 29 with support from artillery fire and airstrikes,” an SSNDF/KNDF spokesperson told DVB. Read more

UN Special Envoy on Myanmar visits Russia

Julie Bishop, the U.N. Special Envoy on Burma, paid a visit to the Kremlin in Moscow last week to meet with senior Russian government officials, including Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin. Russia recognized regime leader Min Aung Hlaing as Burma’s head of state during his visit to Moscow in March. He has been to Russia at least six times since he seized power after the 2021 coup. 

“Julie Bishop’s trip to Moscow does nothing to help the situation in Myanmar or address her continued conflict of interest as a strategic advisor to a China-linked mining company. We continue to urge the U.N. to listen to the serious concerns from civil society about Bishop’s ongoing conflict of interest and open an investigation,” Yadanar Maung, the Justice for Myanmar spokesperson, told DVB.

Bishop declined to comment on the meetings in Moscow when contacted by Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Bishop’s work is “establishing constructive interaction with the government of Myanmar.” Bishop told the U.N. on June 10 that Burma may be on a path to “self-destruction” unless a lasting ceasefire was achieved.

National Unity Government calls for election boycott

Nay Phone Latt, the spokesperson for the National Unity Government (NUG) Prime Minister’s Office, stated on Tuesday that all 54 political parties which have registered with the regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) to run candidates in the planned general elections lack “public support.”  

“Even combined, they failed to secure 10 percent of seats in the Parliament during the 2020 general elections,” said Nay Phone Latt, adding that the regime’s plan to hold polls by December “will not resolve the issues Myanmar is facing” and called on all citizens to reject any election held under the regime in Naypyidaw, which seized power after the 2021 military coup.

The NUG held an online briefing on Tuesday as a response to the regime’s “Peace Forum 2025” held in Naypyidaw June 25-27. The regime met with representatives from the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC), which is a coalition of ethnic armed groups that have continued to hold talks with the regime since 2021. Read more

News by Region

CHINLAND—The Chinland Defense Force (CDF–Hualngoram) told Khonumthung News Agency that fighting with the Chin National Defense Force (CNDF) took place in Falam Township on Wednesday. Falam is located 68 miles (109 km) north of the state capital Hakha.

“This kind of clash shouldn’t happen [between Chin resistance groups],” said a CDF–Hualngoram spokesperson. The CNDF is a part of the Chin Brotherhood, which seized Falam on April 8. Both factions of the Chin resistance agreed to merge at a meeting in Aizawl, India, on Feb. 26. 

KAREN—The regime Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) has blacklisted the Chit Linn Myaing Toyota Company — reportedly owned by Saw Chit Thu, leader of the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) — along with 196 other companies for “failing to deposit foreign currency earnings.”

The CBM statement dated June 27 claimed that the companies failed to deposit their export earnings from 2016 to 2020 into their domestic bank accounts in foreign currency within a designated period which violates the 2012 Foreign Exchange Management Law. Read more

KARENNI—Aid groups in Karenni State told DVB that nearly 600 community-run schools serving over 60,000 students — from kindergarten to high school — are in urgent need of funds to purchase textbooks.

“Some classrooms have only two sets of textbooks for the entire class. Students can share these textbooks when attending school,” Zay Yar Tun, a member of the Clean Yangon charity group now based in Karenni, told DVB. Read more

MANDALAY—The regime Department of Meteorology and Hydrology recorded Burma’s 198th aftershock since the March 28 earthquake as a magnitude 4.8 which struck five miles (8 km) northwest of Tada-U Township on Thursday. 

Residents reported feeling a strong tremor with one sharing on social media that it was accompanied by a “thundering roar.” At least 2,916 bodies have been recovered in Mandalay since March 28, according to DVB data. Tada-U is located 39 miles (62 km) south of Mandalay. 

(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,480 MMK)