Articles

The junta has been directing its subordinates to vote for USDP candidates in the final round of election held in phases. However, those under pressure still do not know who the USDP candidates are for the voting scheduled on January 25. Commanders from battalions stationed in Kyondoe, Kawkareik, and Nabar, as well as Military Operations Command 12 (MOC 12), were…

The junta announced that it had raided covert drug laboratories in northern Shan State in the second week of January, seizing drugs and production equipment worth 1.62 trillion MMK. At a press conference on January 14 about the drug manufacturing crackdown in northern Shan State, attended by some foreign journalists, junta spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun accused certain ethnic…

The IDPs, displaced for an extended period by armed clashes in the southern part of Myawaddy Town, began facing shortages of rice and other basic food supplies in early January. The situation has worsened as the number of donors providing assistance has dropped significantly. According to aid workers assisting displaced communities, IDPs in southern Myawaddy Township who are currently sheltering…

Throughout 2025, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the KNU, fought 1,113 clashes of varying intensity with junta forces in Mutraw District, causing 284 deaths and 459 injuries on the junta side, including an operation-commander, according to the KNU’s annual summary report released on January 13. The junta’s casualties also included a battalion commander, a major,…

On January 12, around 3:00 p.m., junta aircraft dropped two bombs in an initial strike, followed by two more bombs about an hour later, according to an unnamed source from Karen National Union Brigade 7 who spoke to KIC. The source added that the junta launched two follow-up strikes using loitering ammunition (kamikaze drones) in addition to the airstrikes. “Junta…

General Saw Nerdah Mya announced at the Karen National Independence Day ceremony held by the KTLA on January 5 that the Kawthoolei Republic has been established as a sovereign state, operating under a democratic system, with the goal of achieving self-determination amid the collapse of Myanmar’s central government. KNU spokesman Padoh Saw Taw Nee said that the Kawthoolei Republic, declared…

The junta’s aggressive crackdown on telecom scam hubs in Myawaddy and Shwe Kokko towns in Karen State’s Myawaddy Township between October and November 2025 prompted many scammers to flee to Hpa-An, triggering a sharp rise in hotel rates. “Those fleeing to Hpa-An include both Chinese nationals and holders of Shan State ID cards. Before this, hotel rooms cost around 150,000…

The BGF announced its transformation into the KNA on January 1. Following the change, the KNA urged Shwe Kokko residents to stay vigilant, warning that clashes are likely in the town, which lies near the Thai border and is firmly under KNA control. “We’ve packed essentials just in case we need to leave the town. We don’t know what will…

According to a statement from the junta-controlled Election Commission, 24 polling stations have been set up across seven downtown wards and village tracts including Pulweipu, Phakalu, Mekanei, and Mepaleit in Myawaddy Township, where more than 60,000 voters are eligible. On average, each polling station had between 1,000 and 2,000 eligible voters, but fewer than 1,000 ballots were cast at each…

In the afternoon of December 21, a junta jet fighter dropped two 300-pound bombs on Chaungwa Village in the Khaywea Village Tract of Kyaikto Township. The bombs exploded near a cemetery on the village outskirts, damaging a nearby monastery and a motorcycle, according to local sources and Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 1. Later that evening, junta aircraft dropped two…