Three civilians killed by airstrikes in Magway Region
Three civilians were killed and at least 10 others were injured by airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on Kyatthouktwin village, west of Natmauk Township of Magway Region, on Monday, residents told DVB. No fighting between regime and resistance forces was reported in the area. Natmauk is located 34 miles (54 km) east of the region’s capital Magway.
“Two men and one woman were killed instantly. Amongst the injured people, three are in critical condition,” an aid worker told DVB on the condition of anonymity. A People’s Defense Force (PDF) spokesperson in Natmauk claimed that a fighter jet from Meiktila Air Base in Mandalay Region carried out the airstrikes on the village.
DVB has documented that at least 1,527 people have been killed and 3,462 have been injured by airstrikes since March 28. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) project has documented at least 80,000 killed in Burma since the 2021 military coup. At least 1,441 people were killed in 743 airstrikes in 2024, according to DVB data.
Jailed filmmaker Shin Daewe wins Press Freedom Award
The 33rd Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Awards in Paris, France on Nov. 15 honoured jailed journalist and filmmaker Shin Daewe with the Independence Prize for her work on environmental issues and the impact of Myanmar’s civil war. Shin Daewe, 52, was sentenced to life imprisonment under the Counter-Terrorism Act on Jan. 11, 2024 after being arrested in Yangon with a drone in her luggage on Oct. 15, 2023.
“The RSF Press Freedom Awards is the moment we honour the women and men who, through their work and tireless commitment to journalism, have faced – and continue to face – bombardments, censorship, imprisonment and other forms of harassment simply because they are journalists: stubborn, relentless, and determined to defend the truth,” stated Thibaut Bruttin, the RSF general director, on Nov. 15.
Shin Daewe worked as a video journalist at the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) from 2005-2010 and is known for documenting 2007 pro-democracy protests known as the Saffron Revolution. She has won local and international awards for her films, and was named a recipient of the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) 35th annual Courage in Journalism Awards in June 2024. Read more
Thabyay: Creative resistance in Myanmar film review
“Why can’t we build up a nation with everyone all together?” asks Myanmar community organiser and human rights activist Thet Swe Win, one of four protagonists in Jeanne Hallacy’s new film Thabyay. It’s a deceptively simple question, but it encapsulates what the film sets out to do.
Myanmar is a place where storytellers risk getting swallowed up by factional detail, and outsiders are met with a thicket of acronyms, alliances, betrayals, counter-alliances, and historical footnotes, often leading them to check out.
Thabyay offers a simpler story for the viewer, one of two sides: the military, and the people resisting it. This simplicity is not naïve. The film instead spends its energy on showcasing some of the breadth of civilian resistance to the Myanmar military that exists beyond the frontlines. Read more
Watch Thabyay: Creative Resistance in Myanmar at the DVB Peacock Film Festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Dec. 9.
News by Region
ARAKAN—Five civilians were killed and six others were injured by airstrikes on two villages in Rathedaung Township on Sunday, the Arakan Army (AA) reported on Nov. 16. Rathedaung, located 44 miles (71 km) north of the state capital Sittwe, was seized by the AA in March 2024.
“One of the dead was Ko Aye Tun Bu, an anti-regime activist. It is a great loss for the Rakhine people,” a friend of Aye Tun Bu told DVB, using the Burmese honorific for a young male. At least 71 civilians have been killed by airstrikes in AA-controlled territory since Aug. 20, according to DVB data.
MAGWAY—Around 35,000 residents of Pauk Township in Magway Region have fled their homes due to a regime counteroffensive, the National Unity Government (NUG) Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management reported on Monday.
Residents in Pauk, Myaing, Seikphyu and Yesagyo townships told DVB that regime forces launched a counteroffensive against the PDF in late October after resistance forces seized two regime outposts in Pauk, which is located 136 miles (218 km) north of Magway. Read more
The NUG Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration stated that Thet Wai, a member of the regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) was detained in Salin Township after residents reported him for asking people to vote in the regime 2025-26 elections. Salin is located 46 miles (74 km) northeast of Magway.
The NUG stated that it will charge Thet Wai under the Anti-Terrorism Law, which was written in 2014 with the assistance of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The NUG Counter-Terrorism Central Committee designated the regime and its UEC as “terrorist” organizations in 2023.
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