Resistance drone strike on military airbase in Mandalay Region

Six military personnel were injured at Shante Airbase in Meiktila Township of Mandalay Region, located 86 miles (138 km) south of the city of Mandalay. Two Harbin Y-12 aircraft and two buildings were also damaged during a drone strike launched by resistance forces on Monday. 

“We successfully hit our military targets as planned. No matter their security measures or technology, revolutionary forces can overcome their technology even with limited resources. We worked hard and built this capability over a long period, overcoming many challenges,” a spokesperson from a group calling itself the Meiktila Revolution Force told DVB. 

He added that 24 drones were deployed in the attack on the military’s Shante Airbase. The most significant damage reportedly occurred at the production units adjacent to the airbase. Regime media has not reported on the attack. But it did report that Min Aung Hlaing paid a visit to a high-end drone manufacturing facility in Chongqing on Nov. 8 during his first trip to China since the 2021 military coup. 

Fortify Rights calls on Thailand to investigate Aung Ko Ko murder

Regional human rights group Fortify Rights is calling on the Thai government to investigate a possible cover up over the torture and killing of Aung Ko Ko, 37, a Burma national who was detained and tortured by Thai soldiers before his body was recovered near the Thailand-Burma border. Thai authorities convicted another Burma national of manslaughter in the case.

“The soldiers responsible for this should be brought to justice without delay,” said Matthew Smith, chief executive officer at Fortify Rights. “Despite the current lack of accountability for the military’s involvement in Aung Ko Ko’s killing, Thai authorities can reverse course and prevent impunity from taking hold. Our report is intended to help the authorities ensure justice in this case.”

The 44-page Fortify Rights report provides an account of how four Thai Army soldiers detained Aung Ko Ko on Jan. 12 in Mae Sot District of Tak Province. It alleges how three of those soldiers then tortured Aung Ko Ko, who later died from his injuries. It also highlights the Thai police investigation into his death, the ensuing trial, and the conviction of Sirachuch, a 24-year-old Burma national, who goes by one name and was an eyewitness to the torture.

How to stop online harm and abuse in Myanmar 

A new cyber safety campaign in Burma called Stop Online Harm was launched with a website, Facebook page, YouTube and podcast channel. Its aim is to share resources and technology tools, build capacity, raise awareness, develop strategies, and advocate for change from global technology platforms and governments. It also offers an “online ambulance” to deal with issues such as mental health, technology and legal support. 

“Technology-facilitated gender-based violence refers to this harassment, abuse or violence often conducted through digital platforms, which targets each individual based on their gender. It [most] often affects women, girls, and LGBT individuals,” Hetty, the program lead at Stop Online Harm, told DVB. “It also includes a variety of behaviors aimed at intimidating the survivors.”

In 2023, several women pro-democracy activists came forward sharing their ordeals about how their personal information was leaked online by pro-military accounts on the messaging app Telegram. “Pro-junta accounts have taken advantage of Telegram’s lax content moderation rules and are posting violent and misogynistic content, causing women to retreat from public life,” stated U.N. experts.

News by Region

KACHIN—The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) closed three Burma-China border gates located in Loije (Lwegel), Kanpaikti, and its headquarters of Laiza at the end of October. Chinese authorities closed most of its border gates, except for two, in Kachin and Shan states on Oct. 25.

“It has been over two weeks since the KIA shut its border gates,” a KIA source told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Laiza residents claimed that China wants its nationals to return through these border gates. They also report that vehicles from China are waiting for the border to re-open. The KIA seized control of the three border gates after it launched an offensive against the military on March 7.

SAGAING—One civilian was killed and more than 130 homes in three villages of Kanbalu Township were destroyed in an arson attack on Saturday. “A military column with 120 soldiers conducted offensives and burned down the homes. Residents from all those villages fled,” an aid worker told DVB on the condition of anonymity. He added that one recovered body remained unidentified.

More than 200 Kanbalu residents have been arrested and over 800 homes destroyed since the end of October. A People’s Defense Force (PDF) member told DVB that many Kanbalu residents have received military training at the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 6006 and are now members of a pro-military pyusawhtee militia. Tens of thousands of Kanbalu’s 270,539 total population have been displaced from their homes and are in need of urgent humanitarian aid. 

SHAN—Eleven civilians were killed and four others were injured by an airstrike carried out by the Burma Air Force on a tea shop in Nawnghkio Township, located 75 miles (121 km) northeast of Mandalay in northern Shan State on Monday. “The bomb landed onto a tea shop and killed civilians who [were] inside,” a Nawnghkio resident told DVB. 

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) spokesperson Nway Yay Oo told DVB that a total of 20 civilians were killed during Monday’s airstrikes in Mogok in Mandalay Region and Nawnghkio in Shan State, which have been under TNLA control since it launched ‘Operation Shan-Man’ on June 25.