Shan State capital flooded due to ‘poor drainage’
Residents in southern Shan State reported knee-deep flooding at the Taunggyi Township market on Wednesday. A resident of the state capital’s Yadanathiri ward told DVB that two of five novice monks bathing in a lake died during a flash flood triggered by heavy rains on Sunday.
Another resident blamed a garbage collection company for contributing to the flooding as it raised its waste collection fee from 1,000 to 5,000 MMK ($0.2-1 USD) per month. “Since many residents can’t afford [it], they dump trash into ditches, which clog the waterways,” he told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Taunggyi residents said that they want municipal officials to unclog drains.
Residents of Taunggyi’s U Gyi Khan, Pyidawtha, Mingalar-U, Lanmadaw, and Yadanathiri wards reported that they experience flooding every time it rains due to poor drainage. Typhoon-induced floods impacted southern Shan townships, including Kalaw, Hopong and Pekon, in September.
Regime counteroffensive in southern Shan kills 3 this month
Three civilians have been killed and six others have been injured by artillery in Pekon Township of southern Shan State since June 1, the People’s Defence Force (PDF) announced on Wednesday. Over 1,000 regime troops, including the Pa-O National Organization (PNO), launched a counteroffensive in southern Shan and Karenni states on June 2.
The PDF accused pro-regime forces of forcibly conscripting villagers, extorting money, and subjecting civilians to torture and abuse. It added that at least five PNO members were killed by the PDF during fighting this month. Pekon residents told DVB on Saturday that the PNO ordered over 6,000 residents in eight villages of Hsihseng Township to evacuate by June 15, or it will no longer guarantee their safety.
Some of the villages are reportedly located in areas under anti-regime Pa-O National Liberation Army (PNLA) control. A resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that they did not want to leave as it is the growing season. Hsihseng and Pekon are located 31-104 miles (50-167 km) south of Taunggyi and 38-21 miles (61-33 km) north of the Karenni State capital Loikaw.
‘A Nation in Conflict’ series wins World Press Photo award
Photojournalist Ye Aung Thu’s photo series “A Nation in Conflict,” which documents the armed resistance to the 2021 military coup, was awarded by the 2025 World Press Photo contest for the Asia-Pacific and Oceania. He spoke to DVB about his time in resistance-controlled areas of Karenni State.
“The message of this series is: It’s the youth who are leading this revolution. They’re the ones driving the movement for change in Myanmar,” he told DVB. “What we’re documenting now is the fall of a dictatorship. This is a chapter in [our] history.”
Stay tuned to DVB English News for the interview with Ye Aung Thu. Find us on X, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, Threads & TikTok. Subscribe on YouTube. Follow us on YouTube Music, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible, Amazon Music, or wherever you get podcasts.
News by Region
CHINLAND—The Chinland Council told DVB that its forces, led by the Chinland Defense Force (Tonzang), seized a pro-regime Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) camp in Tonzang Township on Monday. Two ZRA members were reportedly killed.
Tonzang is located 145 miles (233 km) north of the state capital Hakha. It came under Chinland Council control in May 2024, “They attacked our forces repeatedly,” a CDF Tonzang spokesperson told DVB. Four assault rifles, ammunition and military supplies were seized from the ZRA.
NAYPYIDAW—The regime Ministry of Immigration and Population will issue identification cards to 400,000 citizens by the end of October as a part of a project to update household records and issue electronic identification cards “to encourage voting.”
The ministry claimed that over 9.1 million ID cards have been issued for citizens, associate citizens, and naturalized citizens, since May 2021. The Union Election Commission (UEC) has stated that the planned elections will take place in 267 out of 330 townships nationwide.
SAGAING—Residents of Shwebo Township told DVB that continuous rainfall since June 9 has caused flooding and swept away 10 temporary shelters housing Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Shwebo is located 62 miles (99 km) northeast of the region’s capital Monywa.
“Around 500 people across 80 households are struggling to survive because of flooding,” a PDF member told DVB. Residents of three villages in Shwebo reportedly had to flee their homes due to regime artillery attacks and are now IDPs.
SHAN—The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) told local media on Tuesday that reports that it ordered the PDF to evacuate Nawnghkio Township were false. Nawnghkio came under TNLA control on July 10 and is located 96 miles (154 km) south of the region’s capital Lashio.
TNLA spokesperson Lway Yay Oo told Shwe Phee Myay news agency that clashes between regime troops and joint resistance forces are ongoing in Nawnghkio’s Kangyi and Ommati villages. Sources told DVB that the TNLA might hand over Nawnghkio to regime control.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,450 MMK)
