Myanmar PDFs face a closing window of opportunity

ASIA TIME
by Anthony Davis
November 5, 2024 

A People's Defense Force (PDF) soldier in a liberated area of northern Myanmar. Photo: X Screengrab

As torrential monsoon rains give way to the year-end cold season, a central question looms heavily over the war in Myanmar: is time on the side of federal-democratic forces battling the State Administration Council (SAC) military coup regime? Or, rephrased, can the remarkable military momentum achieved by those forces over the last year be maintained in the year to come?

Kachin resistance takes control of rare earth mining hub; Arakan Army accused of targeting Rohingya again

DVB
By English Editor
October 21, 2024

Fifty Chinese security officers guard the border gate in Pangwa, Kachin State, after thousands of residents fled to it for safety on Oct. 18. (Credit: Kachin News Group)

Kachin resistance takes control of rare earth mining hub

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and its allied People’s Defense Force (PDF) took control of Pangwa, which is located along the China-Burma border and 114 miles (183 km) northeast of the Kachin State capital Myitkyina, on Saturday. Pangwa is the capital of the Kachin Special Region 1, which is administered by the Kachin Border Guard Force (BGF).

World must not forget Myanmar's ethnic minorities

NEKKEI ASIA

Denis D. Gray
March 31, 2021

Escaping Karen villagers, pictured on Mar.28: more than 10,000 members of the ethnic minority have been driven from their villages. © Karen Teacher Working Group/Reuters

Denis D. Gray is a former Associated Press correspondent. He has reported on Myanmar's ethnic minorities since the 1970s.

The world's attention has been focused on atrocities taking place in Myanmar's central heartland: the towns, cities and villages largely populated by the ethnic Burman majority, where pro-democracy demonstrators, enraged by the Feb. 1 coup, are being gunned down by the junta's forces.

But on the country's edge, ethnic minorities making up about 40% of the population are also being brutalized. The new push by Myanmar's military to target ethnic rural areas has opened up a dangerous front in the junta's bid to "pacify" the population, which has soundly rejected the power grab by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.

Military Atrocities ‘Relentless and Ruthless’ in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State Share Amnesty International has gathered fresh evidence that the Myanmar military is con

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
10/23/2019

Amnesty International has gathered fresh evidence that the Myanmar military is continuing to commit atrocities against ethnic minorities in the north of the country, with civilians bearing the brunt of offensives against multiple armed groups. The conflicts show no sign of abating, raising the prospect of further violations.

A new report, “Caught in the middle”: Abuses against civilians amid conflict in Myanmar’s northern Shan State, details the harrowing conditions of civilians arbitrarily arrested, detained and tortured by the military. It also highlights the abusive tactics used by ethnic armed groups as they confront the military and each other to exert control in the region.

Military Extends Ceasefire in Kachin, Shan for 2 Months

The Irrawaddy
By The Irrawaddy
1 May 2019

Peace Commission members (right side of the table) and representatives of the Northern Alliance comprising the KIA, TNLA, AA and MNDAA (left) hold talks in Muse, northern Shan State, on April 30, 2019. They agreed to hold further discussions on bilateral ceasefire agreements. / Hla Maung Shwe / Facebook

YANGON—The Myanmar military on Tuesday extended its unilateral ceasefire in five regional commands in Kachin and Shan states for two months on Tuesday, with restive Rakhine State remaining exempt from the truce.

The Original Panglong.

The Irrawaddy
By WEI YAN AUNG | 26 March 2019

Shan chieftains pose for a photo at the 1946 Panglong in Shan State

Today marks the 73rd anniversary of a conference held in advance of the historic 1947 Panglong. The 1946 conference, which ran through March 28, also in Shan State’s Panglong Township, has been recognized as the first Panglong but is less known than the one that followed.

Muse: Myanmar's militia-run, billion-dollar gateway to China

  
By Hla-Hla HTAY, Richard SARGENT (AFP)

With tinted windows and their militia name emblazoned on the side of their Ford truck, "Pan Say" fighters cruise the sleazy streets of Muse, Myanmar's main gateway to China and awash with weapons and cash from casinos, drugs and sex.

Villagers escape armed group

MYAT MOE THU 16 JAN 2019

Three men who had been forcibly recruited by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) escaped on January 9, according to the head of Kyan Kyar Kyaing village in Kunlone township, northern Shan State.

The village head was among those who escaped.

Myanmar cracking down on opium, but conflicts fuel drug trade.

UN reports shows less land being used to grow opium poppies, but conflicts hampering eradication programme.

Al Jazeera: 11th Jan 2019 @ 04:09

The amount of land being used to grow opium poppies continues to decline in Myanmar, but ongoing conflicts are hampering efforts to stamp out the trade at a time when the illicit drug economy is becoming increasingly diverse, according to a new UN report.