Seminar on five years since Myanmar coup held in Thailand
A public seminar was held at the Chiang Mai University (CMU) Faculty of Social Sciences called “Five Years Coup in Myanmar: Myanmar in the Midst of Geopolitics” on Sunday. It featured Khin Ohmar, a human rights activist and the founder of civil society organization Progressive Voice, Debbie Stothard, the founder and coordinator of ALTSEAN-Burma, and Eh Htee Kaw, a representative from the Karen Youth Organization (KYO).
Khin Ohmar gave an overview of the military’s 2025-26 “sham” elections, which ended on Jan. 25. “What we saw is that people didn’t show up. Phase one, two, and three altogether. There was a complete lack of turnout, except [for] the military [personnel], or those civil servants who are compelled to show up and vote [in] fear of reprisal,” she told attendees at the CMU Regional Center for Sustainable Development (RCSD).
Debbie Stothard discussed relations between Burma and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which refused to recognize the military’s elections, as well as China’s endorsement of the polls. CMU professor Sirada Khemmanitthathai also addressed Burma and Thailand’s political complexities with an upcoming Thai election on Feb. 8. The seminar concluded with a performance by students from Burma.
At least 170 civilians killed in aerial attacks during elections
As Burma marked five years since the 2021 military coup on Feb. 1, U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk deplored the conduct of the military’s 2025-26 elections, which ended on Jan. 25 but “failed to respect the fundamental human rights of the country’s citizens, and that the process served only to exacerbate violence and societal polarization.”
“After the military grabbed power from the democratically elected government, Myanmar lost half a decade of peace and development,” said Türk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. “The profound and widespread despair inflicted on the people of Myanmar has only deepened with the recent election staged by the military.”
Polls were held in only 263 of Burma’s 330 townships, often exclusively in urban areas under regime control. As a result, large segments of the population, especially displaced communities such as the Rohingya, were excluded from voting. Sources verified that 170 civilians were killed in some 408 military aerial attacks reported by open sources from when the election began on Dec. 28 to Jan. 25. Read more
National Unity Consultative Council faces ‘challenges’
The National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC), which is an advisory body to the National Unity Government (NUG) – an interim administration representing lawmakers ousted in the 2021 coup – called for unity among resistance forces during a press conference in Mae Sot, Thailand, on Sunday. The NUCC was established by 33 resistance groups on March 8, 2021 to build an inclusive federal democratic union in Burma.
Hnin Hnin Hmway, a member of the NUCC consultative committee and secretary 2 of the Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS), stated that 2026 will be “challenging” as a military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) government will emerge from the elections. Khun Myint Tun, the Pa-O National Federal Council (PNFC) chairperson, said that 17 resistance groups have applied to become NUCC members.
The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a group of lawmakers elected in 2020 but ousted in the 2021 coup, told DVB that the NUCC has temporarily suspended it from meetings since November due to “minor internal disputes.” Eight resistance groups, including the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), temporarily suspended their NUCC memberships last year.
News by Region
ARAKAN—Around 400 troops arrived at the regime’s Light Infantry Division (LID) 34 in Kyaukphyu Township on Friday to provide reinforcements, residents told DVB. An Arakan Army (AA) source told DVB that regime forces have suffered “heavy casualties” in Kyaukphyu, but didn’t disclose the exact number.
The AA has been attacking regime positions in-and-around the Danyawaddy Naval Base, located 19 miles (30 km) east of Kyaukphyu, in January, residents told DVB. Kyaukphyu, located 317 miles (510 km) south of the state capital Sittwe, is contested between the AA and regime forces. Read more
SAGAING—A source close to the People’s Defence Force (PDF) told DVB that pro-regime forces, including the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA), have recaptured most of Banmauk town on Saturday. Banmauk is located 235 miles (378 km) north of the region’s capital Monywa.
The source told DVB on the condition of anonymity that fighting between the PDF and pro-regime forces is still ongoing in the eastern parts of the town. No casualties were reported. The PDF, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), seized Banmauk on Sept. 20.
SHAN—Residents of Hsenwi township told DVB that they attempted to stop the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) from confiscating 100 acres of land belonging to 27 residents, in Pankhan village on Jan. 28. Hsenwi is located along the Hsenwi-Lashio road 31 miles (49 km) north of Lashio.
The MNDAA has informed Hsenwi residents that it will seize as much land as it needs after the town came under its control in January 2024. Land confiscations began on Jan. 12, according to residents. The MNDAA, along with Chinese businesspeople, are preparing to start tissue-cultured banana plantations.
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