South Asia and Beyond

Myanmar’s Armed Resistance Groups Ready To Go On Offensive: NUG

Myanmar’s parallel National Unity Government (NUG) says its armed wings, the People’s Defence Forces (PDF), have matured and are getting closer to the level of a professional army, over a year after they were first formed. “More than a year after they were formed, PDFs have achieved certain progress in training, grouping, command, arms and […]Read More

Cambodia Rejects Calls To Bar Myanmar Junta Minister From ASEAN Meeting

Cambodia has ignored an appeal by Myanmar-based as well as regional and international civil society organizations not to invite the Myanmar regime’s defence minister to the upcoming ASEAN defence ministers’ meeting The meeting, which is scheduled to be held this week, will be joined by defence ministers from 10 countries. Cambodia currently holds the rotating […]Read More

‘We Need Guns,’ Myanmar Resistance Forces Tell Shadow Govt

With popular armed resistance against Myanmar’s military regime having raged for more than one year now, the need for weapons and other support is becoming a pressing issue for some resistance groups on the ground. Faced with near-daily offensives by junta forces in their areas, in a bid to tackle the supply shortages some resistance […]Read More

Interest In Regime’s Planned Election Reveals China And India’s Disguised Support For Myanmar Junta

A recent meeting of China and India’s ambassadors with Myanmar’s junta-appointed electoral body has raised concerns that the two neighboring countries are offering additional disguised support to the military regime. Chen Hai, China’s ambassador to Myanmar, and Vinay Kumar, India’s ambassador to Myanmar, held separate meetings with Union Election Commission (UEC) head U Thein Soe […]Read More

Myanmar Regime Orders All Foreign Currencies Be Converted Into Kyats

Strapped for hard currency, the Myanmar junta has moved to seize foreign currencies in the country by ordering that foreign exchange earned by locals must be converted into the local currency at the “official rate” within “one working day”. Financial experts and the business community voiced concern that the order would not only hurt the […]Read More

The World Responsible For Myanmar Becoming Failed State: NUG Minister

Challenging the regime’s legitimacy at home and abroad, Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) foreign minister Daw Zin Mar Aung, 45, has engaged with foreign governments and parliaments, international aid agencies and Myanmar’s many armed groups. However, the elected lawmaker from the ousted National League for Democracy and winner of the 2012 International Women of […]Read More

Myanmar Junta Convoy Under Repeated Attacks In Chin State

Myanmar’s junta has suffered heavy casualties in Mindat Township, Chin State, since March 26, according to the Chinland Defense Force (CDF). CDF fighters have repeatedly ambushed a junta convoy advancing to Matupi through Mindat since March 26. Around 20 junta soldiers are believed to have been killed and many more injured in ambushes, according to […]Read More

Myanmar Junta Chief Not Seen In Public For More Than A Week

Myanmar’s coup leader Min Aung Hlaing has dropped out of sight. Various possible reasons have been offered for his disappearance from public view. Some military sources say he has contracted COVID-19; others say he is suffering from cancer of the lumbar, or lower back, region. The only thing that’s certain is that the Myanmar military […]Read More

Why The Arakan Army Attended Myanmar Junta’s Union Day Event

The generals in Naypyitaw wanted ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) to attend the 75th anniversary of Union Day and they wished to demonstrate that they were ready to strike a deal with powerful enemies. Seven of the 10 signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) and four non-signatories commemorated the 1947 signing of the Panglong Agreement […]Read More

Myanmar Unanimously Defies Junta With Silent Strike

Myanmar’s people collectively showed their defiance of the junta with a successful nationwide silent strike on Friday, making it clear once again that the regime would never be allowed to rule them, despite its seizure of power from the country’s democratically elected government in a February 1 coup. Roads in cities across the country, including […]Read More

In Another Snub, Myanmar Junta Barred From Asia-Europe Meeting

Myanmar’s military regime, which has become notorious for its brutal crackdowns on protesters, is appearing increasingly isolated on the world stage after being shunned from another international summit on Thursday, in the third such snub in two months. The two-day virtual Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) involving leaders of Asia and Europe is being hosted by Cambodia. […]Read More

Myanmar Junta Loses 1,300 Soldiers Killed Over Last Month: NUG

Myanmar’s military has suffered its heaviest losses yet over the last month, with 1,300 soldiers killed and 463 injured in clashes with civilian resistance groups, according to the country’s shadow National Unity Government’s (NUG) Defense Ministry. The junta’s casualties are almost double the number the regime suffered in September. In September, a total of 768 […]Read More

US Hopes Richardson’s Quiet Visit Can Produce Results

News of former US ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson’s visit to conflict-torn Myanmar has not generated excitement among the public. Reports suggest that Richardson is scheduled to meet the regime’s health and foreign ministers, and that he is likely to meet coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. The Biden administration welcomed former New […]Read More

UN Envoy Joins Her Predecessors In Myanmar’s ‘Graveyard Of Diplomats’

Under the previous military regime, Myanmar was known as a “diplomatic graveyard”, chiefly for the UN’s failed missions to the country on issues ranging from humanitarian assistance to national reconciliation between the junta’s old boys and their democratic opponents—primarily the now ousted and detained leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. That bad reputation persists for […]Read More