Regional Military Command in Lashio falls
The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) claimed that it had seized full control of the Northeastern Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters on Saturday. Zin Yaw, a former military officer who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), confirmed the fall of the RMC in Lashio, Shan State to the MNDAA on Aug. 3.
“This is not a story but history. Only a few will know how hard we have overcome to have this victory,” Maung Saungkha, the founder and commander of the Bamar People’s Liberation Army (BPLA) which is fighting alongside the MNDAA, posted on social media. The regime has yet to respond to the reported loss of one of its 14 RMC headquarters.
The MNDAA stated that it had evacuated more than 470 people, including military personnel and their family members, from the RMC hospital on Thursday. The MNDAA announced on July 25 that it had seized the RMC in Lashio but fighting with the military over control continued. Clashes between the Brotherhood Alliance and the military began on July 3.
Two military personnel killed in helicopter crash
Major General Soe Tin Latt, the head of the Southern Region Air Force command, and Colonel Mya Thaung, were killed in a military training exercise at Hmawbi Air Base in Yangon Region on Friday. A female pilot and a sergeant were seriously injured, a military source told DVB on the condition of anonymity.
Regime spokesperson Zaw Min Tun told Voice of America (VOA) that the crash occurred due to bad weather conditions during takeoff from the Air Force command, though he declined to provide further details. The military source told DVB that the Hmawbi Air Base has been under investigation.
In January, a military helicopter was shot down by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), resulting in the death of Brigadier General Aye Min Naung, who was on board. Since the 2021 coup, the military has lost 12 aircraft due to either engine failure or being shot down by resistance forces, according to DVB data.
Sixty-one sanctions placed on regime since 2021 coup
The international community has imposed 61 sanctions on Burma since the 2021 military coup. But this has failed to make an impact on the regime’s primary generator of foreign currency – the state-owned energy company Myanma Oil Gas Enterprise (MOGE) – a researcher on Burma’s economy told DVB.
“It might be more effective if sanctions are imposed against the banking system. Individual boycotts do not have much impact. Targeting the Central Bank would be very effective, leading to the military’s quick downfall,” said Min Min Thaw, a senior lecturer in economics at California State University, Sacramento.
The U.S. has imposed 21 sanctions on 93 individuals and 49 organizations, including MOGE. The U.K. has 18 sanctions targeting 28 individuals and 33 organizations. The E.U. has eight sanctions on 89 individuals and 21 organizations. Canada has nine sanctions, targeting 89 individuals and 41 organizations. Australia has two sanctions on 16 individuals and seven organizations while New Zealand has imposed three travel bans on 58 individuals connected to the regime.
News by Region
MON—Five teachers, including the rector of a high school, in Walkami village of Thanbyuzayat Township were arrested by members of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) on Friday. Residents stated that the KNLA didn’t give any reason for the arrests.
“Around ten armed troops in KNLA uniforms entered the school and asked teachers to gather around. Then they arrested five teachers in front of the students,” said a Walkami resident. Fighting between KNLA and the military began in Walkami village on July 20.
NAYPYIDAW—The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) announced on Aug. 1 that it has taken action against 93 individuals for allegedly engaging in illegal digital currency trading and unauthorized money transfers but did not specify how. The CBM stated that their bank accounts were frozen to stop “illegal activities.” It took a similar action against 39 others on June 4.
SHAN—More than ten civilians, including a pregnant woman and children, were killed by airstrikes carried out on a hospital and on the commercial center of Laukkai, located in the Kokang Self-Administered Zone, on Friday. “It had been bombed by aircrafts four times,” a Laukkai resident told the Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN).
At least 10 buildings were destroyed in a fire resulting from the airstrikes. Laukkai residents claimed that nearly 20 civilians have been killed and several buildings and homes have been destroyed by retaliatory airstrikes by the military since July 14. Residents added that they are in need of emergency assistance.
YANGON—Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who have fled their homes due to fighting in northern Shan State and Mandalay Region since June 25 are claiming that township administrators are charging them 20,000 kyat ($3.70 USD) if they don’t have recommendation letters issued by their wards or villages.
“We could not even bring our belongings, we didn’t think about obtaining a recommendation letter,” a Madaya Township resident, now living as an IDP in Yangon, told DVB. Previously, citizens only had to use their names and home addresses to register on household guest lists to stay in Yangon.
