Ten injured by airstrikes across Rakhine State in one day
Residents in Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township told DVB that at least 10 civilians were injured during multiple airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force in Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, and Mrauk-U townships, located 20-88 miles (32-141 km) north and northeast of the Arakan State capital Sittwe, on Sunday. Two to five regime jet fighters carried out each attack.
Zin Yaw, a military defector who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) following the 2021 coup, told DVB that the Burma Air Force is using a “time-on-target tactic” since Ye Win Oo became commander-in-chief on March 30. This is when multiple aircrafts attack one target simultaneously. He added that using this tactic against non-military targets in Arakan’s 14 townships, as well as Chin State’s Paletwa Township, under Arakan Army (AA) control aims to spread fear among the public and save jet fuel.
Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that a Chinese delegation will meet with the AA at an undisclosed location and date to discuss resuming the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) — a major Belt and Road Initiative project connecting China’s Yunnan Province to Burma’s Kyaukphyu port, located 317 miles (510 km) south of Sittwe. The project, halted in 2021, was signed between Beijing and Naypyidaw in 2018.
Chinese Foreign Minister to visit Myanmar
A Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson announced on Tuesday that its Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, will visit Cambodia, Thailand and Burma April 22-26. The exact dates of his visit to each country wasn’t disclosed.
This will be Wang Yi’s third visit to Burma since the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021. He met with regime leader Min Aung Hlaing during his last visit to Naypyidaw in August 2024. He visited Mandalay Region’s Bagan town for a meeting of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation group, which includes Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, in July 2022.
Min Aung Hlaing, inaugurated as Burma’s president by the pro-military parliament on April 10 following highly controversial elections that ended on Jan. 25, will likely pay a visit to China as head of state in May. Beijing has congratulated Min Aung Hlaing for his ascension to the presidency following the military’s 2025-26 elections, which were reportedly called for during a meeting between Min Aung Hlaing and President Xi Jinping.
Resistance groups reject renewed peace talks
The National Solidarity and Peace-making Central Committee, a 15-member body chaired and formed by Min Aung Hlaing on April 11, invited both signatories and non-signatories of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) to engage in peace talks “with no preconditions.” This comes one day after Min Aung Hlaing called on ethnic armed groups to join in peace talks with the military by July 31.
“For groups that have not yet engaged in dialogue and negotiation, we also invite them to come participate in discussions by the final deadline of July 31,” Min Aung Hlaing told his cabinet during a meeting in Naypyidaw on April 20, referring to opposition armed groups such as the Karen National Union (KNU), the Chin National Front (CNF), and the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF)-all of which signed the NCA in 2015.
His invitation faced rejection from the KNU and the CNF. Saw Taw Nee, the KNU spokesperson, dismissed Min Aung Hlaing’s proposal. “The KNU has already withdrawn from the NCA since the 2021 coup. We have no plans to return to negotiations or follow the NCA path,” he said. Salai Htet Ni, the CNF spokesperson, said his group was seeking a federal democratic system free of military dictatorship. Read more
Read our latest on the Thai Foreign Minister’s visit to Naypyidaw: Thailand offers backing for Myanmar’s bid to normalise ASEAN ties
News by Region
KAREN—Naypyidaw claimed that airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on Monday in Bu Tho Township – Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 5 territory – was “internal fighting” after a bomb landed in Thailand’s Mae Hong Son Province forcing the evacuation of Ban Mae Sam Laeb village.
“If there is fighting, it must remain on their side. Our country must not be affected,” Thai Prime Minister Austin Charnvirakul told media in Bangkok on Wednesday. Security measures have since been intensified along the Thai-Burma border in Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Tak provinces. Read more
ARAKAN—No political prisoners were among the 87 prisoners released in the New Year amnesty on April 17, according to the Political Prisoners Network Myanmar (PPNM). It has documented that at least 292 political prisoners were among the 4,335 prisoners granted amnesty across the country.
A former prisoner told DVB on the condition of anonymity that up to 300 political prisoners are being held at Sittwe and Kyaukphyu prisons for alleged connections to the Arakan Army (AA), which launched an offensive against the military and has seized control of 14 out of 17 townships since 2023.
YANGON—Real estate agents in Dala Township told DVB that property prices have stabilized, with “no robust sales” following the Feb. 6 opening of the Yangon–Dala Bridge, which connects Burma’s commercial hub to one of the region’s poorest townships. Dala is located nine miles (14 km) south of Yangon.
A real estate agent told DVB that a 20 x 60-foot plot of land in Dala, which cost around 20 million MMK ($5,115 USD) in 2024, is now priced at nearly 500 million MMK ($128,866 USD), but has attracted no buyers. The 1.8-kilometer bridge connects downtown Yangon to Dala, Twantay, Kawhmu and Kungyangon townships.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,140 MMK)
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