Blog Elements – Page 7

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Myanmar rebels capture last junta base in township on China border

August 20, 2024/in News

The captured base is a key to the defense of a military headquarters. One of Myanmar’s most powerful insurgent armies has taken full control of a strategically important township in Kachin state on the border with China, its information officer told Radio Free Asia. The Kachin Independence Army, or KIA, together with People’s Defense Forces […]

Over 1,000 Civilians Flee to Ayeyarwady as Fighting Nears Gwa Town in Southern Rakhine

August 20, 2024/in News

Over 1,300 civilians from southern Rakhine State’s Gwa Township have fled to neighboring Ayeyarwady Region as fighting between the Arakan Army (AA) and Myanmar military junta troops nears Gwa town, according to local residents and a lawmaker familiar with the situation on the ground. In southern Rakhine State, the AA and joint resistance forces gained […]

Myanmar rebels capture last junta base in township on China border

August 20, 2024/in News

Over 1,000 Civilians Flee to Ayeyarwady as Fighting Nears Gwa Town in Southern Rakhine

August 20, 2024/in News

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Myanmar rebels capture last junta base in township on China border

August 20, 2024/in News

The captured base is a key to the defense of a military headquarters.

One of Myanmar’s most powerful insurgent armies has taken full control of a strategically important township in Kachin state on the border with China, its information officer told Radio Free Asia.

The Kachin Independence Army, or KIA, together with People’s Defense Forces loyal to the shadow National Unity Government, defeated junta forces to capture their last remaining battalion base in Momauk township in northern Myanmar on Monday, Col. Naw Bu said.

“We were able to completely seize Infantry Battalion 437,” he said. “The military council launched airstrikes but now we can say we have taken control of the whole of Momauk township.”

There were casualties on both sides, Naw Bu said, but he declined to give details.

RFA telephoned the junta’s Kachin state spokesman and social affairs minister Moe Min Thei to ask about Momauk but he did not answer.

The KIA, fighting for self-determination against the forces of the junta that toppled a democratically elected government in 2021, launched an initial attack on Momauk on May 7, then began their final push, along with their allies, on July 24.

Momauk is about 130 kilometers (81 miles) south of the Kachin state capital of Myitkyina, and only about 14 kilometers (9 miles) east of the town of Bhamo where the junta’s Operations and Command Headquarters 21 is based, Naw Bu said.

Junta forces had withdrawn towards Bhamo, which is on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, he said.

The KIA and its allies have captured more than 20 junta camps in the township since late July and about 200 junta camps in the whole of Kachin state since the beginning of the year, he said.

RFA News

Over 1,000 Civilians Flee to Ayeyarwady as Fighting Nears Gwa Town in Southern Rakhine

August 20, 2024/in News

In southern Rakhine State, the AA and joint resistance forces gained control of Thandwe in June and seized Kyeintali in Gwa Township on Aug. 14. Since then the fighting has neared Gwa town, which is near the border with Ayeyarwady Region.

“Since the clashes started in Kyeintali, many civilians from Gwa Township have arrived in our town. Now, it is estimated that there are over 100 people in our town and nearby villages,” a resident of Ingabu Township in Ayeyarwady Region told The Irrawaddy.

In Ayeyarwady Region, after the displaced Gwa Township residents passed through the Arakan Mountains they reached the Yaynanthar military checkpoint, a crucial gateway on the Gwa-Ngathaingchaung Road, which connects Rakhine State and Ayeyarwady Region. There, they were required to give their personal information and the addresses of their destination to military officials stationed there.

The regime officials sent the information to the administrators of the towns and villages listed as destinations, and warned the Rakhine residents they would be punished if they did not appear there, said Daw Cho Cho Win, a National League for Democracy lawmaker who is the representative in exile for Ayeyarwady Region’s Lemyethna Township, and who still has access to information on the situation in her constituency.

“According to our data, it is estimated that over 1,300 people have already passed through the Yaynanthar Gate since early this month. It could be much higher than that, in fact. Some people are traveling to Ayeyarwady Region via forest routes. We are still enquiring about them,” she said.

While the AA’s offensive is focused on areas near Gwa town, residents of Ayeyarwady Region’s Hinthada district, especially areas close to the Arakan Mountains including Kwin Kauk, Ingapu, Mazalikone and Tugyi, are also bracing for clashes, with many packing up valuables and other belongings and shipping some of them to safer places.

Meanwhile, in Ngathaingchaung, Yegyi and Kyonpyaw, which are deeper inside Ayeyarwady along the route leading from the Yaynanthar Gate checkpoint, military troops have been deployed in public places including schools, football fields and pagoda compounds to defend against possible attacks by the AA and resistance forces.

“News is spreading that military junta troops will be deployed at the school next week and they will check guestlists looking for people from Rakhine State. In our town and suburban villages, there are almost 200 people from Rakhine State,” said a resident of Kwin Kauk, a town lying next to the Arakan Mountains in Ayeyarwady Region.

If the AA, People’s Defense Force groups (PDFs) and other resistance forces gain control of Gwa town, the clashes will very likely spread across Ayeyarwady Region, as the region is home to resistance groups trained by the AA, a political analyst said.

“As soon as Gwa comes under the control of the AA, the battles will begin in Ayeyarwady. I think it will be in the cool season,” he said. In Myanmar, the cool season starts around November.

Since launching its offensive against regime forces in November last year, the AA has captured almost all of northern Rakhine State, as well as Thandwe and Kyeintali town in the south.

Irrawaddy News

Spring Revolution

Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 1 to 7, 2024)September 13, 2024 - 5:08 pm
Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Sep 1 to 7, 2024 Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in the Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region, Magway Region, and Shan State from September 1st to 7th. The Military Junta threatened that they would launch airstrikes on the townships which they lost. The […]
Human Rights Situation weekly update (Aug 22 to 31, 2024)September 7, 2024 - 4:09 pm
Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Aug 22 to 31, 2024 Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in the Sagaing Region, Magway Region, Bago Region, Mandalay Region, Tanintharyi Region, and Shan State from August 22nd to 31st. Head of Prison which works under Military Junta, tortured and blackmailed the […]
Human Rights Situation weekly update (Aug 15 to 21, 2024)August 26, 2024 - 9:11 am
Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Aug 15 to 21, 2024 Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in Sagaing Region, Magway Region, Mandalay Region, Tanintharyi Region, Rakhine State, and Shan State from August 15th to 21st. The Military Junta arrested the civilians for military service in the Bago Region, […]

Multimedia

What is the Truth (Cartoon Animation)May 31, 2024 - 4:58 pm
What is Transitional Justice (Cartoon Animation)May 3, 2024 - 8:38 am
Close the SkyApril 11, 2024 - 7:45 am
Forced MarriageJanuary 9, 2024 - 2:12 pm

ND Burma

ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

ND Burma

Recent Posts