Resistance forces seize regime outpost in Karen State
The Karen Information Center (KIC), a media agency covering Karen State, reported that the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) captured the Kanaelay regime outpost located in Myawaddy Township of Karen State, along the Burma-Thailand border, on Wednesday. Myawaddy is located 81 miles (130 km) east of the Karen State capital Hpa-an.
The KNLA source told the KIC that the residents were not harmed since they were evacuated before the fighting took place and that an unknown number of regime troops fled the outpost. KNLA-led resistance forces have besieged four regime outposts in Myawaddy Township by blocking reinforcements from arriving since Thursday.
A frontline source told DVB that KNLA-led forces launched an offensive on Monday to seize the regime’s Thebawboe outpost in southern Myawaddy across from Thailand’s Mae Sot District. At least 2,000 residents from five villages fled across the border into Thailand’s Tak Province as the regime fired artillery from its Wawlay outpost on May 26, the source added.
Over 1,600 arrested in 3 months from digital surveillance
Pro-regime media reported on Tuesday that police arrested 1,657 “fugitives” nationwide between March 7 and May 21 through the use of the Person Scrutinization and Monitoring System (PSMS). The software—installed on computers at checkpoints and hotels—alerts police if individuals listed in its database appear, according to the Mandalay Police Force.
“It’s powered by Huawei as part of China’s contribution to [the regime’s] repression of its people. It mirrors in many ways systems being used in China,” Antonio Graceffo, an independent security analyst, told DVB. He added that the system mirrors the one used by Beijing which integrates artificial intelligence, digital identity cards and facial recognition technology.
Regime authorities claim that they could identify a person using facial images alone, without requiring their national registration card number. They added that former prisoners released under amnesties would be added to the system’s database. DVB data has documented that 106,810 prisoners—including 8,873 political prisoners—were released in 18 amnesties since the coup on Feb. 1, 2021.
Regime counteroffensive advances toward Chinland
Approximately 800 regime troops have been advancing toward Tedim Township in northern Chandland from Kalay Township in western Sagaing Region with intense fighting against resistance groups since May 21. Kalay is located 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Tedim, which is 117 miles (188 km) north of the Chinland capital Hakha.
“[Regime forces] want to retake the towns we have seized. Intense fighting has been occurring in Tedim Township, and residents have already fled,” Salai Htet Ni, the Chin National Front (CNF) spokesperson, told DVB. Casualties have been reported on both sides, although no specific number has been disclosed.
Chinland’s Khonumthung News agency reported that around 10,000 residents from villages in Tedim, and along the route from Kalay, have fled their homes. Chin resistance groups claim to control 90 percent of Chinland, including the Burma-India border town of Rikhawdar. The regime controls Tedim, Hakha, and Thantlang, 22 miles (35 km) west of Hakha.
News by Region
AYEYARWADY/YANGON—Sources told DVB that at least eight houses and an unknown number of schools were damaged by strong wind and rains that struck townships in Yangon and Ayeyarwady regions on Wednesday. “No injuries or fatalities to people or animals occurred,” a rescue worker in Ayeyarwady Region told DVB.
The Myanmar Fire Services Department stated that it has conducted rescue operations in the affected townships of Yangon and Ayeyarwady. The regime’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology has forecast more scattered rain with strong wind nationwide in the coming days.
CHINLAND/ARAKAN—The Chin Political Steering Committee (Rakhine State) on Wednesday urged the Arakan Army (AA) to release 63 Chin youths who were detained while attempting to go abroad for work and education, noting that some of the detainees are minors. The AA seized Paletwa Township in southern Chinland on Jan. 14, 2024.
Chin groups urged the AA to discuss its recruitment orders, which requires men aged 18-45 and women aged 18-25 in AA-controlled territory to serve two years. The AA order barred military service-aged residents of Arakan from leaving the state on May 22.
A source close to the AA healthcare department told DVB that there were at least 400 cases of malaria and two deaths reported in 14 Arakan townships, as well as Paletwa in southern Chinland, so far this year. Most malaria cases were from merchants that returned from India and from those living in rural areas, the source added.
A resident from Kyauktaw Township told DVB on the condition of anonymity that AA healthcare workers sprayed mosquito repellent, but the measures were inefficient since they did not cover all the wards under its control. Last year, 20 malaria-related deaths were reported in AA-controlled territory.
SHAN—Medical officers in Mandalay told DVB that the regime plans to transfer an unknown number of medical staff to Lashio by the end of this month. Lashio is located 107 miles (172 km) south of the Burma-China border town of Muse and 243 miles (391 km) north of the state capital Taunggyi.
“Orders have been issued, but no one is willing to go,” a Mandalay-based medical worker told DVB. Lashio General Hospital has reported a critical staff shortage and has reopened only the emergency department. The MNDAA completed its hand over of Lashio to regime control on April 22.
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